Drowning in Fire
by Dame Mond
Summary: "It's never easy to start over in a new town and in a new school. At least my aunt is around, and my little sister is a calming presence in that mad hole that is my house. This can't get any worse… But knowing my luck, and now that I've met that idiot punk and the Student Body President, I think it will. Damn it."
1. Prologue: The arrival

**(Author's Note below because it was way too damn long)**

**Warning:** this story is currently rated T for a reason. There'll be family violence in some chapters, which influences MC's life and emotions greatly (that's why this story has that title). I'm warning in advance just in case someone feels bothered by it. But I also assure that there'll be humor, scenes with friends (what would we do without them?), romance (of course), Just Dance Boris (I'm not kidding, it's planned), Principals flipping out, the legendary Kiki chase, a "Borrowing Race" (from GA), and more. Well, I'm sure you people know how things go at Sweet Amoris. You can't get bored. Or at least, I hope not to bore you guys with this story ;u;

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Nightwish or My Candy Love. God forbid I did. I'd suck at drawing the scenes in the episodes.

_-Mond_

* * *

**Prologue: **The Arrival

**-From the eyes of Anne Devay-**

When I was little, I'd dreamt of a sea of fire.

I remember thinking nonstop about a comment a neighbor had made about my hair back then: that it looked as if it was on fire when the sunlight hit it. Yeah, that was it. It came with my orange hair, I suppose.

That same night I sat with my older sister, Lara, watching the fireplace. I saw the mix of yellow and red under a new light just because of that comment, and I realized how much I loved watching the flames dance around the wooden pieces thrown into the fireplace, and warm us up when we felt cold. That night was the first night I dreamt of being surrounded by flames, but I wasn't scared; the fire just danced around me, but it never burnt me.

I never understood why people were more afraid of fire than water. Drowning in the ocean would mean dying in the cold, sinking into darkness; I'd rather die surrounded by fire, though I wouldn't like to die in the first place, to be honest.

Reality hit me and I came back to the present, with myself staring out of the car window and seeing the dark shadows of trees pass by in a blur. I sighed, brushing those thoughts off my mind. _New life, new trail of thinking… new everything, basically._ I turned up the volume on my iPod, and it suddenly shuffled to Nightwish's "Rest Calm". _Fan-freaking-tastic._ Not knowing if to be either amused or bothered, I shoved my headphones into my bag and checked around the car.

My eight year old sister, Vivian, was sleeping by my side, clutching her old cat plush as if it were a lifesaver. Some locks of her blonde hair had slipped from the neat ponytail she always loved to wear. My father, thankfully, was asleep as well, and mom was the one driving, eyes focused on the dark road ahead. It was night already, and I was really tempted to open the door and roll out to stretch my legs. My back hurt after eight hours of sitting in the car. Why couldn't we have taken plane tickets instead?

I stretched my arms and my back made a "crack" sound. Ouch. I winced.

"Anne, are you awake?" I heard my mother whisper, and I whispered "yes" back, resting my elbows on my lap. She sighed. "I think we won't be unpacking when we arrive. It's already too late…"

_Praise the Heavens. More like praise my mom._

"I wasn't going to unpack anyways," I shrugged, a playful smile appearing on my lips even if my mother couldn't see it. "I was planning to throw myself into bed and sleep until tomorrow afternoon." What else would you expect from a sixteen-to-seventeen year old?

Even in the dark, I saw my mother frown in the mirror. "Don't forget you have to go give the rest of the papers to the principal tomorrow early. The email they sent said that you still needed to deliver an ID photo, and fill up a couple of papers in person. The sooner the better."

_I take that back. Don't praise anything._

"Fine," I said.

Well, at least I wouldn't have class tomorrow. I'd just have to go and give the papers and the ID photo, do whatever else they needed and come back to my new house to unpack while my father took Vivian away to her new school for her first day in Sweet Amoris.

Technically it wasn't our first day of school, but it was our first day at Sweet Amoris. We were barely in the first week of April, which meant the end of this school year was only three months away. Good timing to change, huh?

Nope.

But we had to move due to mom's job. She got a better offer in Sweet Amoris, which apparently lacked of a decent veterinarian, and after talking it with my father, she accepted it. The catch? We had to move in within two weeks, or else the offer would pass to someone else. Poor Vivian cried her eyes out when realizing she wouldn't be seeing her friends anymore, and she wouldn't even let me help her swallow the sudden news. But a few days later she suddenly calmed down. She never told us why she changed her mind, so we didn't push her. Everything became hectic: my father asked for a transfer to Sweet Amoris to his company so he could keep working, mom searched for a school for Vivian and a High School for me and then she had to pack most things from her vet clinic, and last but not least, came the "pack your things" part. Hectic was an understatement: it'd been the _week of Hell_ in shining letters.

Me? I didn't care about moving. I had none back there.

I let myself fall back on the seat with a sigh, and I was sure my ass had gotten a square shape from all the traveling hours. Vivian mumbled something on her sleep and I took out my iPod again, going through the "Dark Passion Play" album and choosing "The Islander" song to try and sleep. Too bad that when I was through the third repeat, mom stopped the car and shook my father awake, signal that meant '_we're here, get out'_.

"Arthur, wake up. We're here."

Without waiting for anyone, I opened the door and jumped off the car. God, it never felt so good to just _stand_.

"Sis?" I looked down to the source of the voice and found a tiny blonde with brown eyes that matched my own staring at me. I heard a '_Lynne help me out with the boxes!_' behind me, but I chose to ignore it.

"Hey Viv."

I saw her frown, holding the plush closer to her. "Is this our new house?"

Crap, I hadn't even noticed.

I scanned the building in front of us: two floors, a balcony in the upper part, a small garden (that could use a grass-cut) with a wooden fence and a tree that reached the second floor… The house wasn't too big, neither too small. It looked about right for a big _family_.

Yeah. Right.

The peach tree in the garden called my attention, and the best part? It was placed right next to one of the windows in the second floor. Talk about a cliché. I was a lover of night strolls, as long as it wasn't freezing outside, so maybe that tree could be useful… as long as it was near my room, that is. As far as I knew, that window next to the tree could lead to any other room.

But it turned out that the Universe loved me, after all. At least this once.

Yep. Got the room with the tree, while my sister's was at the other far end of the hall in the second floor, and my parents got the one with the balcony. Vivian insisted to get the balcony, but after a few arguments with "it's too dangerous", she gave up and locked herself in her room with a pout on her face. I did the same, just in silence and after putting all my boxes inside.

My room? Well, it looked more like a… uh… box shop? Yeah, pretty much.

It'd look different once I'd unpacked, but it was almost midnight, and I'd been at least nine hours inside a car. Unpacking was the last thing in my mind, and my bed was the first.

A few trips and curses later, I managed to change into my pajamas, get into bed and I finally tucked myself under the sheets, relaxing instantly.

Tomorrow would be my real start in here, and I'd just have to keep going until I turned eighteen.

My name was Anne Devay, and I'd just arrived to Sweet Amoris.

**-End Prologue-**

* * *

**A/N:** Frick, took me long enough to start this. I had fun making up the last names of the characters, and creating up the story and the family. I got inspired in Lit. class, of course. Also personal experiences of the sort changed to fit this Candy's story. They say life's a good teacher. Anyways, I'd been thinking about writing a MCL fic for a while to keep my mind busy while I catch up with my accounts and patiently wait for episode 21st to be released. I tell myself to go slowly, but yesterday night I spent at least 500 AP and went over four episodes. So much for going slow… Jesus freaking-

I hope you guys got the hint of the "yellow and red" (-cough-). Also, I hope you've also noticed how Anne thinks always "my father" instead of "dad" while she uses "mom" with her mother sometimes. I love putting little details like these around to get to know the character, but if you have doubts, don't worry, things will be revealed when the time comes. By the way, no, Anne's not a pyromaniac, though it'd be quite the twist… I should stop writing in here, or I might end up revealing more than I intend to. In the next chapter we'll meet Nathaniel, Castiel, Rosalya and the rest of the gang! I wanted to put them here, but prologues are supposed to be short.

Another note: she doesn't know her aunt is in Sweet Amoris, neither does her family. She'll appear, I promise. And so will Lara.

Also: Arthur + Lynne= Anne. I didn't realize until I was halfway through this chapter. If I could frown at my own brain, I so would. Sneaky little bastard.

Any grammar mistake you spot please notice me on PM so I can correct it. It comes with being a non-English native speaker and it _sucks_. Reviews are appreciated, and I love them. Who doesn't? I also love my readers. If you got till the end, let me hug you and give you chocolate chip cookies and pizza.

Please review! I'd like to know what poeple think so far as the plot keeps going, and I might even leave Anne's fate to the public at some points!

-_Mond_


	2. Chapter 1: Fated meetings

**A/N: **Holy crap, I'm making progress. I was nervous because I don't like leaving a story with only a prologue –shudder- but now I've got chapter one down. We meet "that idiot punk" and the study body president (yay Nath!) and more. Points of view **do** vary in this chapter. I thought about putting Nathaniel's as well, but in the end I thought it'd be a bit of a mess. Don't worry, we'll get into his mind in another chapter. I cleared up some things about Anne in this chapter too, but now that I've finally got to write about the main characters, I'll focus more on them. I was dying to do so, and also write about Castiel. I had so much fun!

You guys know if you see any grammar mistakes, please PM me so I can correct it. Like I said, being a non-native English speaker sucks when writing, but I try my best.

This story is barely beginning, by the way.

Thanks for reading, and onwards we go!

_-Mond_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own My Candy Love yadda yadda_  
_

* * *

**Chapter 1:** Fated meetings

**-From the eyes of Anne Devay-**

The booming voice coming from downstairs took me out from dream-land. I didn't have to put two and two together to know that it was my father, mad again for God-knows-what-reason, and that he was yelling his frustration off onto mom. With a tired sigh, I buried my head under the pillows. I wasn't in the mood to listen and let my strength for the day be sucked off by listening to him yelling nonsense. I just had to wait until his car left the house and I'd be able to get up and go around the house without that tightening feeling in my stomach I always had when he was around…

Heavy stepping noises made me get my head out of the pillows, fearing that he'd come into my room, but instead of my door, I heard strong knocking in the other side of the hall: Vivian's room. Right, he was supposed to drive her to her new school today.

Probably not the best idea.

"Get up!" I heard him growl. This was one of the first times I heard him yell like that to Vivian, but I was familiar with the tone. He started using it with me and mom after Lara left.

To clear things up, Lara was our half-sister from a previous marriage he'd had with another woman whom I didn't know crap about because Lara didn't want to talk about her. Vivian and I were our mother's daughters, Lara was –unknown woman-'s daughter, and us three had the same father. She moved in when our father married mom, and around ten years later, when she turned eighteen, I watched her pack up her things and leave. Vivian had only two years old back then.

I was lost in thought when I heard his voice again: "Your sister will take you to school today!"

… _Urgh. And screw him too._

How could I explain this? My father got angry easily. He never laid a hand on mom, but insulting us all was another story, to the point that I've seen my mother cry in the backyard all alone in the middle of the night after one of their many fights. I've never felt so furious in my entire life, but when I went to confront him about it, it didn't end well for me, neither my arms, my jaw or throat.

He'd never hit mom. Me? I was another story. He didn't hit Vivian, either, but she was growing up as his temper got worse. My mother didn't lift a finger, and she pretended like nothing happened, like he did. Vivian was a silent witness when I tried to get a hold of myself. But I didn't hate my mother or my sisters for the atmosphere at home; my hatred was directed towards someone else entirely. Take a guess.

I'd be eighteen in a year and a few months, and maybe I could do like Lara…

Shit. I got lost in thought for twenty minutes and I had to shower and get dressed to go to Sweet Amoris.

So there I was, up at 8 am and dressing while my sister was having breakfast downstairs. Thank fate or whatever was in charge of my luck, my father had already left the minute later after knocking in Vivian's room while mom disappeared off view… er, house. Whatever. The boxes with her vet equipment weren't where we had left them when we moved in the night before, so my first thought was that she'd gone in a rush to her new clinic to set things up.

I put on my favourite navy jeans, short black boots and a simple grey turtleneck sweater. I brushed my chest-length orange hair so I didn't look like the freaking Lion King, I put on a black beanie and grabbed a jacket for later. It looked like a chilly morning.

When I went downstairs into the new kitchen, I saw Vivian finishing her breakfast by gulping down a big glass of orange juice. I patted her head playfully when passing by her side, and she shoved my hand off with a smile on her face as well.

Just that hers was more sincere.

"Ready, blondie?" She gave me a thumbs up, still drinking.

Cute.

When I looked over the desk near the entrance door where we had settled the phone, I saw a folder with the papers I was supposed to bring to school later on and a post-it with my mother's handwriting:

_To get to Sweet Amoris High School, once you get out of the house, go to the right and down the road until you see a big, cyan building; it shouldn't take you more than twenty minutes to arrive _(how the hell did she calculate that when we arrived only yesterday?!)

Then there was a scribbled address below that, quite hard to read. It was like it'd been written in a hurry.

_This is the address of Vivian's school; it's pretty near to yours! Sorry you had to deal with this today, but your father got busy-_

No shit.

_and I'm in a hurry to set the clinic up this morning. Don't forget the photo_

I couldn't read crap of the address. _Great, just great_. I took out my phone to call her, but my phone had the wonderful timing to die the very moment I unlocked the screen. I'd forgotten to charge my Xperia up the previous night, and it was biting me in the ass_._

According to mom's note, Viv's school was close to mine, so I thought maybe I could drop in by mine first and ask for directions for Sweet Amoris Elementary School in there. That, or…

"Hey, Viv. Did mom tell you where your school was?"

She shook her head while buttoning her white long coat. "No. She said she'd drive me every day, but that today was an exception and I was supposed to go with dad."

_Hoped too much._

I shoved a blueberry muffin into my mouth, threw the folder into my bag followed by my iPod, my black headphones and my wallet, grabbed the house keys and motioned at Vivian to get out first while I munched on my breakfast. Walking down the road it was.

* * *

Vivian stopped by _every god damn single_ shop just to admire whatever they had on display. I'd lie if I said that I wasn't curious as well, but everything was closed until 9 am or so, and Vivian had to be in class before that.

"Viv, stop staring. We've got to get to school." I called her. She'd grown especially fond of a clothes shop called "Castillion", or something like that. Victorian-like dresses and fashion-like accessories with lots of ruffles (Miles Edgeworth would be so jealous) were on display, among some flamboyant yet pretty pink, purple and blue dresses. It was a bizarre but enchanting mix. The prize was kind of high, but when I saw the confection and the designs, I really thought they were worth the prize, even if I couldn't get one. My wallet was full of spider webs.

Not literally. Calm down with the bug sprays.

After letting her stare a bit more at the light pink dresses, I managed to drag her off with the promise that I'd take her there sometime when we weren't in a hurry. I pitied mom: Vivian had always liked dresses with frills, and now that she was growing up, she still held that liking for pastel and "sweet-like" collections. I liked them too, but I preferred simpler designs, less frills and darker colors.

We passed by lots of other places: a music store, which reminded me that I'd have to take my electronic keyboard out and find a place for it in my room; a pizzeria, a jewelry shop, another clothes shop, a toy store (Vivian went flying towards the door, seriously), a coffee shop… and finally, FINALLY, I spotted the tall cyan building ahead of us with a signal atop of the entrance:

_Sweet Amoris High School_

I could almost hear the _goddamn holy chorus_ singing Häendel's Hallelujah.

... Okay, that was an exaggeration.

Without hesitation I pulled Vivian behind me into the High School. There was no way I was leaving her out here alone.

"This doesn't look like the photo mom showed me. The school was green."

I turned around to face her. "I don't know where your school is." I admitted. Blame mom for that. "This is this city's High School. I've got some quick business to attend to, and I'll ask them where your school is once I'm done. It'll just take a few minutes."

Instead of the pout that I was expecting, I got a beaming blonde pulling me right into the building. "I get to see a High School inside?! Cool! Let's go in, let's go in!"

… Maybe I should've kept my mouth shut.

The halls were empty aside from the lockers at both sides, and the only sounds heard were the echo of our quick steps and the muffled murmurs that came from behind the closed doors. Classes, I presumed. It wasn't like I wanted to barge in one and ask where the office was, so I just wandered around, searching for a hint that would guide me.

"Let's see…" I mumbled. "The Principal's office, the Principal's office…"

"What are you doing outside of class, miss?"

I halted and turned around.

Behind me was a woman wearing a light-pink formal attire and her grey hair was tied up in a neat bun. She was short and rather chubby. Talk about a classic look that was completed with a pair of glasses, also pink.

Pink wasn't disturbing for my eyes, but seriously_-_

"I'm looking for the principal's office, you see." I choked out, feeling uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze. She was shorter than me, for crying it out loud. "I'm new."

At the word "new", her expression completely changed and softened. "Oh, I see! You must be Anne Devay, correct?" Apparently the Principal had told of my arrival. Well then. "You should know that only students of Sweet Amoris High are allowed inside."

_Shit. Well, I didn't have an option._

"I have to drop her at Sweet Amoris Elementary, but I don't know the city yet." She nodded at my reply. Apparently she was letting this one slide off. Vivian just stood beside me, not saying a word, quiet and shy as she was.

"I see. Well, understandable. You're here to finish the enrollment proceeding, aren't you? In that case you should go to the Student Council room. It's right next to the entrance door, Nathaniel, will help you out with the enrollment and I'm sure he'll gladly give you directions for Elementary School. He's the student body president, by the way."

_He sounds pretty… important._

Mumbling a "thanks" I trotted away back to the entrance until I saw the door with the "Student Council Room" sign. Taking a deep breath, I knocked.

And an angel opened the door.

… Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but that blonde hair, that smile and those amber eyes had to be illegal to be down here in Earth, and they were deadly with the white shirt and blue tie. Way to make a first impression.

"Can I help you?"

Oh _shit_. I was staring.

"Er, yes, yes you can." I mentally smacked myself. _Yes you can?! Are you serious?!_ "Er, I'm looking for Nathaniel."

He smiled. _Stop, man. Just stop. You're blinding me._ "Well, you have him in front of you." Oh. So he was Nathaniel.

"That's good, because I heard I had to give him some papers." Not able to hold my laugh at Nathaniel's puzzled expression, I passed him the folder with my old school's report of my grades until the present and my ID photo. "They asked me to deliver this personally as soon as I arrived here."

His eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, you're the new student. Devay, was it?"

I laughed and put my hands on my hips, more relaxed. He gave off a good vibe, I had to admit. "The one and only."

"Well then, Ms. Devay." Was it me or was he playing along? He hadn't stopped smiling either. Didn't his cheeks hurt? "Everything's in fine and you don't have to fill anything else after all. But you have to pay a 25$ fee to finish the enrollment."

Aw crap. That wasn't in the email.

"Alright, everything's good then. Your enrollment is finished!" Nathaniel smiled at me (again) once I said goodbye to my 25$. "Welcome to Sweet Amoris, Ms. Devay. It's nice to meet a formal student once in a while."

I raised my hand. "Stop calling me 'miss', it's getting weird." He looked a bit taken aback, maybe I'd been too blunt. But seriously, I wasn't made for the whole 'miss' thing. And we were both of the same age, to boot. "Just Anne will work, if we're going to be going to the same class."

If he looked taken aback before, now he was baffled. "Alright… Anne."

He smiled sheepishly.

Oh boy, he was adorable.

"Sis?"

… And me, being the genius I was, I had forgotten about Vivian.

"Yeah? Oh, right, shit, the school-" both looked at me as if reprimanding my cursing, but I couldn't care less at that moment. "You wouldn't happen to know where the Elementary School is, right? I have to drop this brat."

"Hey!"

Nathaniel looked amused at our little exchange. "Yeah, it's pretty close, actually. I can't leave the place because I have class in twenty minutes." Nathaniel's look said something like 'you should be as well'. "But I can give you directions."

"That'll work!"

He turned around and scribbled something down on a piece of paper before handing it to me. "Just follow these and you'll get in there in five minutes."

"You're a life saver, Nathaniel!" I beamed, and he blushed slightly.

When I was about to leave, Vivian already out of the room, he called out to me. "Um, once you drop her, I could show you around the school, if that's okay with you."

_Oh dear._

Maybe he was just being extremely polite, but that wouldn't stop me from accept such an offer.

"Sure thing!" I waved at him before running out. "See you later!"

With that, I walked outside with Vivian following me, but before I got to the road, a shade of red and silver caught my eye a few feet away, behind a tree, and I stopped in my tracks.

_More students?_

**-From the eyes of Castiel Keimar-**

School sucked and this one in particular was no exception. It only held bad memories for me.

The only thing that didn't get me on my nerves around this place was Lysander, my closest friend, and the fact that we could practice music in the school's basement. I didn't care about anything else in this place.

We were sitting outside behind a tree, waiting for the recess to start. I had managed to bring Lysander with me out of PE this once, and I was smoking a cigarette while he was writing down new lyrics in his notebook. We were in silence after he'd given up trying to break my habit of smoking. Again.

"Y'know, it's been a week since you haven't lost your notebook. I think you broke your record."

Lysander looked at me, amusement clear in his face. "Very funny, Castiel. I wouldn't be surprised if you were the one hiding my things."

"Me?" I smirked and mocked a hurt expression. "Never."

He shook his head. "I saw you eyeing my notebook once, though."

"I needed the lyrics…" I shrugged, and right then, I heard the door to the school open. We both grew tense. "Shit. You think it's a teacher?"

But Lysander had already relaxed again and was looking towards the entrance over his shoulders, peeking from behind the tree.

"I don't think so. It's a girl, and I haven't seen her before. Maybe she's the new student we heard about from the Principal a week ago."

I turned around and looked from behind the tree, imitating him: a girl was walking outside of the building, followed by a kid.

"Looks new, alright." I mused. "I haven't seen her around the city."

"That should be my line, since my brother is the one taking care of the shop." I rolled my eyes at his comment, but I could tell he was just messing with me in his own way.

"Hey."

I turned to the direction of the voice and found a pair of brown eyes looking at my own.

… Wait, when the hell did she get here?!

"Are you students from here? I'm new." She looked at us, and I spotted the kid hiding behind her. Really? You don't go to people and say "I'm new" all of a sudden. But if she was that stupid…

I didn't answer, but I felt Lysander's eyes drilling holes on my back and I could almost hear his thoughts: _don't be rude._

Yeah, right. I didn't care. She probably would join Amber's bitchy group, or she probably was as bubbly as Iris, and I didn't need another annoying voice in the classroom. She even had her hair color, if only a bit darker and it was longer. It was a nice shade, I admit, but nothing more. Maybe it was dyed.

"So?" I spat back. She frowned at my reaction. Lysander, however, stood up and extended his hand at her.

"Forgive him, he failed 'Manners Class'." I shot my friend a glare, but he only shot a "friendly" smile at me. "Yes, we study here. I'm Lysander Castillion."

"Castillion…" She tapped her chin. "Sounds familiar."

"Ah, that. My brother runs a clothes shop in the city. Maybe you've seen it?"

"Oh, yes." The ginger snapped her fingers, as if remembering something. "We saw it this morning on our way here. By the way, I'm Anne Devay."

A ginger named Anne. Go figure.

Lysander bowed, like the gentleman he was. It was hard, really hard to not roll my eyes (again) at that. Giving no craps, I just focused on finishing off my cigarette. "Nice to meet you, Anne. I take you'll be joining us soon for class?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow, in fact. I still have to unpack, though." She suddenly stopped talking and turned around to face the kid behind her, who was pointing at her wrist as if saying 'time is ticking'. "Ah, sorry. Gotta drop her in class, then I'll be back for a tour."

"Did someone offer to show you around?"

I saw her nodding rather excitedly. Seriously, this was starting to piss me off.

"Yeah! Nathaniel, I think it was his name."

Right, the pedantic blond bastard. Of course it'd be him who offered to show her around.

I huffed, gaining looks from the two (three?). I was growing bored with each second that passed and I just wanted her to go away. Don't blame me. She'd probably grow to be close friends with that blond jerk and even end up hating my guts pretty soon. Not that I cared.

"Is she your kid?" I asked and the look I got back from her was quite amusing. Oh, the joys of teasing.

"… Sorry?"

I clicked my tongue and tilted my head towards the blonde kid behind her. "I asked if she's yours."

I could almost hear her thoughts of _What the fuck?_ directed at me, and it only made my smirk wider.

But instead of storming off or throwing a bunch of insults at me, she looked at Lysander, and smirked at us… Smirked?

"And is he your husband or something?"

I choked on my cigarette.

I couldn't see Lysander's expression, but I bet he was having fun with _my_ reaction this time around. Before I could even catch my air (choking on a cigarette is painful), she waved Lysander goodbye and disappeared from sight.

"I think she got you," Lysander smiled down at me once I took out another cigarette and dropped flat on the grass, "and she doesn't even know your name."

"I'll shoot back sooner or later, and I'll make sure she won't forget my name." I grumbled, to which Lysander shook his head.

"She seemed nice enough, and you were the one being rude."

I raised an eyebrow at my friend. "Don't tell me you like gingers."

"I only said she was being nice." Lys buried his nose on his notebook again before a so-tiny-smirk appeared on his face, which was rare. "What? Are you jealous?"

I cracked up. Damn Lysander.

... That smirk of hers, though. It suited her.

And her hair looked nice. It reminded me of the flames...

This could be interesting.

**-From the eyes of a passerby-**

After dropping her sister in the Elementary School in time before her second class ended (oops), Anne made a race back to Sweet Amoris High. She'd lie if she said that she wasn't enjoying her day so far: shutting the rude redhead up made her feel better. The silver haired teen with the pretty eyes was a different story, though. He looked more mature than people of their age she'd met.

Once she went across the gates, she saw lots of people around her age roaming around: recess time. A bit conscious that some stares were directed at her (mostly because none knew her), she skipped towards the inside of the building and almost tripped on her way into the Student Council Room… Wait, tripped on what?

When she stumbled to regain her stance, she saw a group of girls formed by a rather gorgeous blonde, a brunette and a black haired Asian who wouldn't stop looking away from her mirror while she fixed her lipstick. Well, now she knew what (who) she tripped with.

"You're the new one, aren't you?" The blonde asked, and Anne nodded, a bit wary. The look the blonde was giving her wasn't friendly at all. It was worse than the redhead's from before.

"Yeah. I'm-"

But before she could say something else, the blonde pushed her out of the way rather roughly. "Out of my way, ugly carrot."

"Pardon me?" Anne raised an eyebrow, feeling the familiar feeling of rage boiling at the pit of her stomach. Someone would end up flying… but the girl and her "minions" were already gone.

"Bitch." Anne mumbled and turned around, ready to enter into the Student Council room, but she hadn't even gotten ahold of the handle when the door flew open and someone bumped straight into her.

"Whoa there!"

Stepping back, she raised her hands in an "I'm innocent!" gesture, and then she recognized who she'd bumped into. Her brown eyes widened.

"… Nathaniel?"

"Oh, whoops." The blonde sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, didn't think you were here already."

"I ran. I mean, I ran the way back." Anne mentally smacked herself. Again. Nathaniel only smiled at her. Again.

Seriously.

Nathaniel motioned to the other end of the hall. "Let me show you your classes, and we can end the trip in the library-"

"Hang on, golden boy." A female voice called out to Nathaniel, who froze on the spot. Anne didn't know if to laugh at the nickname or let it be. "You'll end up boring her to death. How about leaving the tour to the expert here?"

"Kim? What are you doing here?"

An arm wrapped around Anne's waist, making her squeak in surprise and Nathaniel got pushed away when the ginger turned around to face the 'newcomer'. "Hello there, kiddo. I'm Kim Haulen, and I'm on a rescue mission."

"Um, Kim? I thought I was going to show her around."

She waved off Nathaniel's protest. "Relax, she needs a tour, not a museum visit. What's your name, by the way?"

"I'm Anne, Anne Devay." She was trying her best not to laugh at the situation, but her trembling body gave her away, much to Nathaniel's displeasure.

"Cool. I heard you'll be in our class, so a Kim-special is a must on the first day. ONWARDS."

And with that, she dragged Anne off, leaving a poor, confused Nathaniel behind them. When Anne turned around, she mouthed an "I'm sorry" to him before they disappeared behind a corner.

He sighed. "Well, back to work for me, I suppose..."

**(…)**

"And the second floor holds the Chemistry lab and the room where we'll get the Biology classes with Mr. Faraize. Any questions?"

Kim sure was having fun with that, so far Anne could tell. The ginger tapped her chin, pondering what kind of questions she could ask. She knew about the classes and clubs, and she'd also gotten the schedule (thank Kim). What else was there…?

"What about our classmates?"

"Oh, well, that's an easy one." Kim lazily leaned back, resting her weight on the lockers and started motioning her head towards some people that were passing by. "You see that ginger with that hair like yours?" Anne nodded. It was a bit lighter than her own shade, but it was orange either way. "That's Iris Heatherfield. She's in the music club. A sweetheart, really. Hey, Iris! Say hello to the new kid!"

Kim wasn't exactly a "quiet" person, but everyone in class seemed to love her, and thanks to her Anne was getting to know all her classmates before even sitting with them. Although it got her to be called the "new kid" at a loud voice in the middle of the halls, but none seemed to pay mind when it was Kim yelling it.

Iris heard the call and waved at them, a cheerful smile on her face.

"Alright, who's next…" Kim pondered, before pointing to a white haired female that was running towards them. "Oh, hey Rosalya. Just in time."

To say that Rosalya was gorgeous was an _understatement. _A sin, even.

"Hey, Kim." The white haired teen turned towards Anne and scanned her from head to toe. "I don't know you, but I already like your hair."

"No shit," Kim laughed, "she's new. Finished the whole enrollment thing today. Natty boy was about to show her around."

"Phew, you got out of a good one then, if Kim went to your rescue." The girl named Rosalya grinned.

"I'm sure it isn't that bad… wait, Natty boy? Didn't you call him golden boy, or something?"

"Yeah, both work. Mr. Perfect, Mr. Prez, whatever floats your boat." Kim stuck out her tongue. "Anyways; Rosalya, this is Anne Devay. Anne, this is Rosalya Mein." Said teen bowed, making Kim's smile widen. "She's a pro when it comes to clothes and style, so watch out."

"Alright, I will." Anne chuckled.

"Let's see here…" Rosalya tapped her foot on the ground, apparently deciding to help with the 'let's present the people' task. "You see that purple haired girl over there laughing with the blue haired guy?"

… _Nice combination._ Anne thought. "Yeah. Who are they?"

"Those are Violette Stemma and Alexy Miller." Kim jumped in. "Violette is a close friend of mine, and she's really shy and quiet. But she's sweeter than sugar, I tell you, and a pro at drawing."

The giant folder she was carrying around gave her away at that, and the grey short dress and stockings made her look like a doll.

"About Alexy, he's outgoing, and he's out for a man hunt whenever he has the chance." Kim whispered the last part with a grin on her face which made Rosalya crack up, and a few seconds later, Anne got the meaning.

"Oh. Oh my."

"Yep. As gay as it gets."

Apparently that part wasn't said as softly as Kim had intended, because the moment she finished the phrase, Alexy turned to them and walked over with Violette in tow.

"Hey guys, I heard my call. What's up? Oh, is this a new face I'm seeing?"

Anne laughed. "I sure am getting lots of attention today. The name's Anne, by the way."

"Don't get used to it. It only lasts for a week if you're lucky. And it's a pleasure to meet you." Alexy said, extending his hand at her. Anne shook it and also smiled at Violette, who shyly smiled back. So far, so good.

"… Your hair has a pretty color." Violette said in a soft voice.

"I agree."

She felt her cheeks fire up. How many times had she gotten the hair compliment already? "Thanks, Violette, and, uh, Alexy… wasn't it?" Great. She was stammering.

"Yup, got it right. My twin brother's name's Armin, by the way. Look for someone who looks like me, just duller and more boring and with a psp between his hands."

"Noted."

"Alright, who else's around." Kim continued. "Oh, you see that girl with the green dress carrying a mic?" Anne nodded. "That's Peggy Hertzel. She works for the school's newspaper."

"Wait, this school has a newspaper?"

"Yeah, she's the one who makes it. Alright, who else… ah, you also see the brunette who just passed that group of three? She's Melody Bell, a delegate. She's with Nathaniel most of the time. They work a lot in the Student Council Room. And those three bit-, er, girls, are Amber Prime, Charlotte Wellington and Li Smith. Watch out for them."

"Afraid I already met them."

Kim clicked her tongue while Alexy stretched his arms. "They act like they're the queens of this place, but they're the queens of bitching and that's all they'll ever gonna be."

Violette coughed awkwardly while the rest held back their laugh.

"And that one following them, with the pink dress, it's Capucine Pastrion. Really nosy, if you ask me. She only wants Amber's approval."

"I see…"

Alexy continued for Kim. "Have you met the teachers?"

Anne shook her head. "I saw a woman this morning, but I'm not sure… "

"If she was wearing pink from head to toe, I can tell you it was the principal." Alexy leaned back near Kim. "Her name's Daisy Smite. And if you see a blond version of Rambo, that's Mr. Boris Maschen, our PE teacher."

"Blond version of Rambo?" Even Violette laughed at that.

"Last but not least is Mr. Larrson Faraize, our expert in Science. He's a bit shy and stutters a lot, but having him in class is a blessing. He barely sends any homework!"

"Because you don't let him finish when he's about to assign them." Rosalya rolled her eyes. "Speaking of homework, has any of you seen Lys? I need him to help me with the Literature homework later."

"Oh, right. Lysander." Kim smacked her forehead "I forgot."

"Do I hear my name?" A voice from behind Alexy startled the whole group, and the silver haired teen came to view. "Hello, everyone. Rosa." He nodded politely at her as a greeting. "If it isn't Anne, too. I thought Nathaniel was the one going to give you the tour?"

"Ahah," Anne laughed nervously, but Kim wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"That was his plan, but let's face it. Tours are better if they're made by yours truly."

"I can't say no to that." Anne laughed. Rosa was frowning during the whole exchange.

"You've met each other?"

"Yes. Anne came to greet me before, when I was with Castiel."

Rosa seemed amused and Violette fidgeted with her giant green folder. "You've also met Castiel?"

Lysander laughed at the memory, and Anne suddenly got embarrassed. Lysander seemed polite and nice, and she'd added him in the joke without hesitation.

"Um, about that…" she started. "Sorry about what I said before, I didn't really think before saying it."

Lysander smiled ever-so-slightly while the rest listened with curiosity. "No problem. Castiel was being rude to you and you just shot back a reply at him when he wasn't expecting it. He isn't usually like that, he was just having a bad day."

"Wait, back up. You messed with Castiel? Castiel Keimar?"

Anne turned towards Rosalya. "Who?"

"Castiel Keimar, the redhead you talked about before."

"The punk?"

Kim roared with laughter, patting Anne on the back. "I like this kid."

Lysander cleared his throat. "Yeah, that's Castiel. Speaking of which, I think I just saw him near Classroom B…"

It was as if someone had fired a gunshot or something in that general direction, because everyone turned their heads at the same time towards the place Lysander had just said.

And yep, there he was, showing absolutely no interest in his surroundings. People also avoided him as they went back to their classes. Maybe because he did look as if he could beat the shit out of someone. If he was pissed off at the world, it was his problem and his alone.

Wait, she had something to do with that, too. Maybe she could fix it, and start over in a better way... worth a try, right?

Wrong.

"… If he had a bad day, I think he's going to have it worse." Kim mumbled.

Anne cleared her throat in a loud way, but Castiel paid no mind. She cleared her throat a little harder and got the same result. Her frustration grew.

"Don't bother, Anne." Lysander spoke softly. "He's got his earbuds on."

She huffed, sligtly annoyed.

"Pardon me." She walked away from the group and straight towards Castiel, who didn't seem to notice her.

That was, until she was right in front of him, hands placed on her hips.

"Hey, Keimar."

A bit surprised that she was still there, Castiel pulled his earbuds off. "Carrot."

She could hear Lysander smacking his forehead in the distance.

Taking a deeeeeeep breath, she decided to ignore the nickname, and cleared her throat. Again. "Alright, Keimar. I just came to-"

"You've learnt my name?"

She frowned, a bit surprised at the sudden question. "Yeah…? I got introduced to most of our classmates today."

He raised an eyebrow. "You move quick, Carrot."

"Don't call me that."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not a carrot!"

He reached a hand and took a strand of her hair. "Your hair says otherwise. You probably should've chosen another color."

She stepped back. "For your information, my hair is natural, dumbass."

Castiel smirked, amused at their conversation. The rest of the group seemed to be having fun as well, while Violette and Lysander looked a bit worried.

"So you came to call me a dumbass?"

"No! Er, well, I…" Argh, it wasn't easy. "I came to apologize for what I've said before..."

Kim smacked her forehead while Lysander smiled.

Castiel raised an eyebrow. She didn't seem like she was pulling his leg.

So she was fiery one second, and the next she apologized?

Strange.

He preferred her when she had that fire in her eyes, ready to shoot a comeback at him.

So he smirked.

"Nice one, Carrot. But I couldn't care less."

Lysander smacked his forehead once again. Seriously, it was like Castiel did this just to piss _him _off. Luckily, Lysander was known to be very, very patient, even with Castiel.

"W-what? Hey, I'm trying to be nice here!" At that, he shrugged and started walking away from her, annoying her further. Yep, this was going where he preferred.

"I don't care about that, ginger. What's done, it's done. And I'll have my payback," he turned around and smirked at her. "I assure you."

Anne stood there like a gaping fish, cursing at him in her mind in all the possible languages she could come up with and even inventing them. Anything worked with Keimar. He had pissed her off greatly.

"Grah!" She raised her hands up with a growl, much to her classmates' amusement. "I swear…"

Kim patted her back. "Don't worry, kid. But now, we have to go to class or else we won't hear it from the Principal."

"Alright."

"So, we'll see you tomorrow?"

Anne blinked and looked at Rosalya, Alexy, Kim, Violette and Lysander.

Then smiled, feeling calmer.

"Yes. I'll be here first thing in the morning."

"Great!"

Maybe things could be better and she could get a bit of happiness outside of her home.

But for now…

"Oh, shit. I forgot I still have to unpack!"

**-End Chapter 1-**

**A/N:** We all love Castiel even though he's the biggest jerk in existence. I had fun making Anne shoot back to him, but this won't end here. No way in hell. Bickering is one of my favourite things to write about. I've made some plays with the some last names as well, but I'll explain them in the next chapter's AN. Maybe you can figure some out~? I'll tell Castiel's though, since it's in my native language:

Keimar is the pronunciation of "Queimar", which is "to lit-to set fire" in Gallego/Galician, my native language. Har har. –smacked-

Ken will appear, but later on. He's a friend of Anne's when they were kids, after all. Also about Aunt Rose… I don't know if the aunt has a "canon" name, but I've seen lots of people naming her "Agatha" and it fits her like a glove, but I didn't want to be a "copy-cat" (is that even the word?), so I named her Rose instead. Rose fits her as well –cough-. But if I had to vote for the Aunt to get a name, I'd so vote for Agatha. Fits her way better.

… Writing in 3rd person is way easier than in a person's point of view sometimes. Do you guys prefer 1st? 3rd? Or both? I like both, personally. You get to read more about a person's view in the 1st, and their way to see the world and thoughts. That can happen in the 3rd too, but it's more complicated to write. But I won't give up! –background explodes-

We've met most students at Sweet Amoris by now! I'm already writing the next chapter. Seriously, I've never been so excited with a story. I think it's been years since I last did something like this. No, I'm not giving away the name of my old account. It's so, so, so embarrassing.

See you in the next update!

_-Mond_


	3. Chapter 2: Coffee for two

**A/N: **Classes are getting ahold of me, but I'll keep my updates between once or twice a week. I want to finish this story no matter what, and since most of important plot points are already planned, it's just a matter of getting to work. –slapped- I'm two days late posting this chapter, but I was out the whole Sunday from morning to evening and when I arrived I just plopped on bed and fell asleep.

Luckily I have enough free time in my hands... We get some Nathaniel sweetness in this chappy because the last one had more focus on Castiel. But don't worry, that jerk's not off the hook. No way. He will be important for Anne… later on.

Reply to the reviews down below! Now, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Onwards!

_-Mond_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own My Candy Love and I never will. Stop making me write thiiiis-

* * *

**Chapter 2:** Coffee for two

**-From the eyes of Anne Devay-**

Two weeks had passed since Kim showed me around the school, introducing me to most of my classmates in the process, and I was starting to get used to the atmosphere in Sweet Amoris High School.

Amber's little group heard of my small talk with Castiel on the first day and it was as if she'd placed a giant piece of paper with the word "target" written in shining letters on my forehead. She just wouldn't leave me alone: every single time I was out on the halls fetching something from my locker or in my way to the bathroom, she'd appear, shove me out of her way and then pretend it was an accident. Accident my ass.

Luckily for her, I managed to keep my temper under control, or else punches would've been thrown. Kim and Rosalya always knew whenever I had met Amber on the halls because of my expression, and to boot, someone always made fun of me whenever I entered in the classroom with an angry face: Castiel.

Speaking of the redheaded jerk face: he was another prick that wouldn't leave me alone, but his way of messing with me wasn't like Amber's. I even dared to think he was being "friendly" (gasp), but I got so frustrated whenever he smirked down at me and called me "carrot" or any other stupid name with that smug smile on his face, that the "friend" word got shoved down an imaginary cliff in my mind. Rest in peace.

For Lysander's sake, I held back my urges to kick Jerkstiel's ass in class below his chair while Mr. Faraize explained the "wonders of human cells". Why? Because one of his hobbies when he wasn't skipping was either doodling in my notebook when I wasn't looking or throwing small wads of paper at me. I'd grown friends with the silver haired teen, and the more I spoke with him, the less I understood how he could get along so well with the redhead.

"It's a mystery indeed," Rosalya said when I shared my thoughts with her. We were having lunch together with Kim, a routine I'd taken since I arrived. Violette, who had eaten with us, had already finished and was drawing in the school's garden, "but I wouldn't dwell too much on the matter. Those two are together since I can remember."

I raised a brow as I swallowed my slice of pizza. Bless Thursdays' food. "What about you, Kim? Did you know them when they were kids?"

Said teen shook her head, passing her empty can of coke from one hand to the other. "Hell no. I didn't meet them until two years ago or so, but I remember Castiel being different back then. He had dark hair or something, and he didn't scowl at golden boy as much as he does now."

Oh, right. Those two hated each other's guts, too. I didn't realize until my third day in this place, when I saw them almost beating each other's faces right in the middle of the hall after the last bell rang. Thankfully, Lysander had been near and he helped me pull them away from each other before blood got spilled or a teacher passed by. I could swear I felt Castiel's eyes glaring daggers at my back as I walked Nathaniel to the nurse's office, though.

"No way," I replied, the thought of Nathaniel and Castiel bumping shoulders being more than alien to me, "that's impossible."

"I know, but that's the present. Maybe they did get along in the past."

I winced and finished off my can of iced tea. "If that's the case I wonder what happened to make them hate each other as they do now..."

"Don't look at me." Rosalya raised her hands. "Lys is like a brother to me, but won't share a thing with me about him. I don't know about Castiel as much as he does. He keeps quiet about it." Damn. I was curious now, but how did that saying go…?

Curiosity killed the cat.

_More like Castiel killed the cat. _It didn't matter how curious I was; Castiel would shove me off (not very gently, if I might add) if I ever asked him about Nathaniel, and Nathaniel wouldn't appreciate if I just started asking him about Castiel. It was a dead end in both ways…

"Hey, Carrot."

… Speaking of which.

"Radish." I said back without even looking at him, which made my friends snicker. I wasn't going to drop the stupid nickname exchange until Castiel did, and he seemed to think the same thing about me. He was still behind me and didn't move an inch, so in the end I grumbled and turned around to face him, seeing that he wouldn't go away. The height difference was even worse, considering he was standing up and I was sitting down. "What do you want?" I growled lazily.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Radish? Is that the best you can come up with?"

Another growl from me and a protest from Kim: "Let's not talk about vegetables while I'm enjoying a barbecue pizza, please."

"I could say the same about you and your stupid carrot nickname." I shoved my hands into the pockets of my black hoodie and crossed my legs, looking up at him. "What do you want?" I repeated.

Castiel shrugged, hands in his pockets. "Just passing by."

I huffed, but a smirk found out its way to my lips. "Are you that bored when Lysander isn't around?"

"Can't say I'm entertained." He smirked back. So that was it?

"If you're looking for a show, you won't find one here. Now, if you don't mind, we're trying to eat." With that, I spun around on my seat again and heard him step away from our table. Finally.

"Doesn't matter how much you eat, though. Your chest won't grow anymore."

My can of iced tea flew over a couple of tables and met his head with a loud _clank!_

I fled away before he could even turn around to look for the culprit.

* * *

"Hurry up, sis. Hurry up, HURRY UP!"

I sighed. Right after class I'd decided to stop visit Rosalya at Leigh's shop… but I wasn't doing it alone.

"God damn it, Vivian, go slower. Leigh's shop doesn't close until evening. What's the rush?"

She halted, released my hand, and raised her index finger as if making an important point. "Every second is important!"

"…"

Did I mention that most times I wanted to visit Rosalya or Lysander, they were both at Leigh's shop? And that whenever I said I was going out to Castillion's, Vivian would drop whatever she was doing and insisted on coming along?

Sure, she'd been insisting on visiting the shop the very first day since she saw the dresses on display, but after she saw Leigh for the first time when we went to visit with Rosa, she insisted even _more_.

My sister was shy and quiet most of the time around new people, but she'd warmed up to the Castillion brothers rather quickly. Maybe it had to do with the whole "Prince-like" look, as she called it. When she'd heard that Rosalya was Leigh's girlfriend, she started pouting most of the time around her, but it "miraculously disappeared" when Rosalya gave her a spaghetti strapped pastel pink dress with white frills and white flip flops decorated with sunflowers. Soon enough she gladly became Rosa's "baby model". And I sure had no complaints as long as it wasn't me.

I opened the door to the shop and heard the bell placed above ring the moment we stepped in. A man with black hair that was behind the counter looked away from the book he was reading and immediately smiled gently at us. "What is this? I think a couple of angels dropped from Heaven and fell right into my store."

"Leeeigh!" Vivian beamed. Before I even realized, she'd bolted away from me and ran to squeeze the black haired male in a hug behind the counter. He lifted her up without an effort.

"It's a pleasure to see you too, Leigh." I smiled back at him and looked around for Rosalya or Lysander, but they weren't anywhere to be seen. Leigh seemed to notice.

"Rosa isn't here today." He said softly. "She needed help with Literature and my brother is helping her. I would've done that instead, but…" Leigh shrugged. I knew he'd cut off some hours from the shop just to be with Rosalya, but business was business. Rosalya didn't seem to mind, though. Most of the free time Leigh had was spent with Rosalya and his brother, anyways.

"Yeah. I understand." I nodded. "But surely you'll have more time in Summer, right?" He smiled even brighter, realizing I was right.

"Yes, she always makes plans for us during vacations."

"Doesn't sound bad to spend vacations with your girlfriend."

Leigh nodded. "She might invite you this Summer, and who knows," he shrugged, "maybe you'll come with someone. She loves double dates. She's set my brother in a few before."

"Why can I totally picture Rosalya putting up a blind date for Lysander?"

"Because it's true."

_Cling!_

The entrance bell rang behind me and I turned around as Leigh let Vivian on the floor. My eyes widened in surprise when I recognized the new visitors: Melody and Nathaniel.

Melody was laughing until she realized that Nathaniel wasn't looking at her anymore. Her blue eyes stopped first on Leigh, then on Nathaniel, and lastly on me. Her eyes narrowed for a second when Nathaniel smiled at us.

Leigh spoke first.

"Welcome, Ms. Bell. Long time no see."

Melody nodded. "Nice to see you too Mr. Castillion, although I'm not here to buy something for myself today."

"Anne! What a surprise!" Nathaniel smiled brightly, and contagious as it was, I couldn't help but smile back at him_._ I waved at Melody and saw Vivian peeking from behind the counter, beside Leigh.

"Hello there Nath. Are you here to get a change of style?" Nathaniel frowned at my question, smile disappearing. The white shirt and blue tie-style fit him, but he looked too formal for a boy of his age.

"No, not for me. Amber's birthday is coming up, and I needed to get advice on clothes."

"Again." Melody added. "Every year, Nathaniel asks me to help him choose something for his sister. He's not good at this kind of things."

"M-Melody, please!" Leigh and I did our best to hide back our laugh.

"Really? I thought he was good at this, having Amber as a sister and all." Melody shook her head, but Nathaniel beat her to it.

"But that's the problem," he sighed, "she isn't easy to please."

I put my hand on my chest, feigning a look of sadness. "You have my condolences."

"Very funny."

"So!" Leigh clapped his hands, making us all turn to his direction. "You said you needed help with your sister, right? Tell me about her."

The next ten minutes were about Nathaniel and Melody trying to describe Amber, and me holding back my tongue trying not to add a note from yours truly to the description. One like: "bitch". But Nathaniel was around, and despite everything Amber was (and more), he didn't like it when people insulted his sister… even if she _was_ a bitch. This was my mind and he couldn't read it. Screw it.

Leigh showed different models to the pair and Nathaniel seemed to like most of them, but Melody often jumped in with a suggestion or a comment to check the next one. I didn't know if she was trying to make time with Nathaniel or if she really was trying to pick a "perfect" dress for Amber. My allowances were on the first one. I just watched from a distance with Vivian, having absolutely no interest in picking a goddamn dress for a bi-… blonde prick.

I soon got bored of just standing around, and with the lack of interest about the topic I considered leaving ever-so-quietly if it wasn't for Nathaniel being there. The problem was that he wasn't alone: he was with Melody. It seemed to be normal for him, but I saw that sparkle Melody's blue eyes had whenever he looked at her. Nathaniel was completely oblivious, though.

I was about to call Vivian to leave when Nathaniel appeared in front of me, holding a bag in one hand.

Wait, when did they finish?

"This was quicker than I thought." Nathaniel lifted the bag, pleased. He turned to face the brunette. "Thanks for the help, Melody. I'm not the best at this kind of things."

"You're welcome." she gave the brightest smile I'd ever seen coming from her, "I can help you carry the bag, if you'd like."

Nathaniel shook his head. "That's very kind of you, but I wouldn't like to bother you any further."

Melody seemed disappointed. Leigh leaned over the counter and whispered to me: "I think he's the most oblivious individual I've ever seen."

"No kidding."

A phone rang, startling us all. It took me a few seconds to realize that it'd been Melody's, who had run out of the shop to answer it after a quick apology. I'd recognized the song: Vanessa Carlton's _A Thousand Miles._

"Hey, Anne," Nathaniel called, "um… Are you free right now?"

I tilted my head. "Yeah, sort of… Why?"

"Well, I didn't get the chance to show you the school…" I held back my laugh at the memory. "Did you get a tour through the city?"

I laughed. "Yes, Kim beat you to it."

"Darn it."

_Cling!_

Melody walked in once again, looking a bit down. "I got a call from my mom. She needs help tidying up the garage, and since my dad's gone for the whole day… I'm sorry, Nathaniel."

Said blond raised his hand. "No worries, you've helped me a lot already today."

With another apology and a big smile directed at Nathaniel, Melody ran off the store. I had to wonder how she could run at such speed with that short white skirt…

In the end, even if I told Nathaniel I'd already gotten a tour, he suggested taking a walk from the store to the plaza. Needless to say I accepted, but then I remembered that I had a sister to bring home (again). When I was about to retract my words and decline, Leigh "came to the rescue", suggesting that he could take care of Vivian while I went out with Nathaniel. I got a bit worried at first, but he seemed to be enjoying my sister's company, so after making sure he really didn't have a problem with her, both Nathaniel and I left the store.

Kim had guided me through Sweet Amoris city the very first day she got ahold of me, and she even called Violette and Alexy to the center of the city. Rosalya had insisted that her field was the "shopping" area and that she'd have to take me there somewhere. And she did, along Alexy. When the day ended I felt as if we'd run a marathon…

I liked to check on clothes from time to time, but those two were like _bombs_ in there.

Nathaniel pointed out some places of interest (for him) while we walked, and he stopped to peek inside one alley behind a coffee shop. I leaned over his shoulder, curious, and felt him flinch when I did so.

"What's with this alley?"

"It's filled with stray cats." Nathaniel said, trying to get a better view. He sounded nervous. "I can't have cats at my house, so I come feed some here from time to time. There's not a single one here now, though."

Nathaniel's hair was a bit messed on the back of his neck, maybe because he rubbed it a lot. I couldn't help but notice it because of where I was standing. Something else called my attention: there was a… purple dot? No, not a dot, it was like a bruise… A big one on the back of his neck.

Did Castiel do that to him?

Nathaniel suddenly stood up, taking me by surprise. "Would you like some coffee?"

"… Wait, what?"

It turned out that Nathaniel was a coffee lover and his favorite place to get it was the place near the "cat alley". He ordered one cup for himself and one for me, then we sat down in a table near the window with views to the street. One part of me wanted to just enjoy the moment while the other went Jiminy Cricket mode, picking on me about the bruise I'd seen before.

I kept my curiosity at bay as I could.

"How's life in here? Are you getting used to Sweet Amoris?"

I took a sip of my caramel macchiato. "It's… well, it costs a bit, but I'll get used to it little by little, I suppose."

"I suppose that's normal when you move to a whole new place."

"You've never left Sweet Amoris?"

Nathaniel shook his head, his gaze stopping somewhere outside the window. "Never. My parents were born here, and here they want us to stay."

"But you'll be able to move when you're older, right?"

"Maybe, if I'm lucky. But so far I'll be dependent on them for a long time. They're the ones who pay my studies." He smiled at me. "What's with the questions, all of a sudden?"

"Hey, you asked me first. I just asked something in return."

"So it's give and take?"

I grinned and shrugged. "If that's how you want to put it..."

"You're incredible."

"And you've only known me for a few weeks." I winked, making him laugh. "There's so little you can ask about me, though. My life is…" A sigh escaped my lips. _Let them believe._ "… Pretty boring."

"I'm sure it's not like that." His reassurance made it look as if there was something good behind it, but the truth was that there was _nothing_.

But it wasn't like I could let it out so easily, so I smiled in return. I didn't know how many times I'd faked it in the past. I'd lost count.

"Okay… Let me try if I can read you." I raised a brow at his statement, as if saying _you can try._ "Let's see… average grades, so you probably don't study as much as you should." I protested with a "Hey!" that went ignored. "Big headphones like Alexy's, so you're a music lover, maybe you even play an instrument."

"Used to." I corrected. "Piano. I have an electronic keyboard at home. Are you a detective or something?"

"I just love crime novels."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, you got one right. Anything else?"

"I don't know you that much yet," he laughed, "but I'd love to."

I felt my face heating up and quickly distracted myself twirling my drink.

"I mean- uh- er… well, we're classmates and all…"

"Alright… well, it's not fair you got to "read me", I'd say I deserve a chance as well."

He seemed happy that I'd changed the topic. "You can try."

_Funny. I thought that too._

"Let's see… You love politeness and manners, and formal clothing." He nodded.

"But that's a given."

"Still, I'm scoring. Let me keep at it." Nathaniel laughed at me while I tapped my chin. "What else… crime novels, you also love reading, and you like your coffee bitter. I suppose you don't like sweets."

"That's correct."

I grinned. "And also…" Maybe this was a chance. "You get in fights… with Castiel."

Nathaniel stopped mid-sip as I stared at him. "Am I right?"

"Well…" he scratched the back of his neck, wincing. "You saw that the other day, but we don't fight. He just skips the rules, and as a delegate, I have to make sure he follows them."

"Not an easy task, I guess." I shoved the topic off with a wave of my hand. I didn't understand Castiel's anger with the world, especially towards Nathaniel. "By the way, did that… hurt?"

He shot me a confused look. "What?"

"The bruise you have on your neck. Was it Castiel?"

Nathaniel got paler. "You saw that? When?"

"When we saw the cat alley- hey, are you okay?"

He buried his face in his hands.

"Nath?"

"Yes, I'm fine." I flinched at his harsh tone. "It wasn't Castiel. I'm just clumsy sometimes."

"…" _I don't buy it, but I won't pry._

It was as if he'd raised a wall. He didn't have a problem talking about his animosity towards Castiel, and he'd admitted he'd fought with him.

_So Nathaniel told the truth when he said that Castiel didn't do that to him…?_

And plus, as much as I saw Castiel glaring daggers at Nathaniel, I couldn't see him strangling him... Or at least I hoped so.

Silence enveloped us both. I tried to avoid Nathaniel's gaze, but whenever I looked at him he was staring at right me. Despite the situation, I felt the blood rising up to my face under his gaze.

"What is it?" I ended up asking.

"What are you thinking about?"

I feigned confusion. "What do you mean?"

Nathaniel sighed. "... Nothing, never mind."

I raised a brow, but didn't ask further. Something felt wrong about his story, and how he was trying to avoid it didn't make it better. Yet if he didn't want to talk about it, I wouldn't push it.

We finished off our drinks talking about trivial stuff, and soon enough the tension around us faded away as we dropped that topic. Nathaniel even asked me if I wanted to go to Amber's birthday party, to which I laughed and said: "Thanks, but as Kim would say it: hell no".

We stayed there for one more hour, just talking and laughing in the warm café. My cheeks started to hurt from smiling so much at each story about Sweet Amoris Nathaniel told me, but I couldn't help it. When we saw the sky getting an orange tint, we decided it was time to head back. He paid both his coffee and mine, even though I insisted otherwise, and waved me goodbye when he saw what time it was.

In a better mood, I went back to Castillion's to pick Vivian up.

When we got home our father was in the living room, so I faced him the very moment I stepped in. I sprinted upstairs at the first chance I got, ignoring my mother's look. I didn't notice that Vivian was following me until she entered into my room right behind me, closing the door.

"I have something to give you," she whispered, and it looked as if she was playing a game of some sorts, but she actually handed me a small card. It read: _Ruby Road, 5._

"What's this?"

"A woman came to the shop today when I was with Leigh. Very flashy." She made gestures, trying to describe the woman. "She asked my name and then she gave me a card for you."

My confusion was growing. _For me?_ "What did she say?"

"Give this to Anne," she quoted, "and tell her that I'll be waiting for her to visit me."

"Sounds fishy." I said, about to toss the card away. Vivian snatched it back and glared at me.

"I think I remember her name… she told me not to tell mom, either." This was starting to sound worse with each word.

That was, until, she said her name.

"Rose Fae!" Vivian clapped her hands happily. "Her name was Rose Fae! Leigh told me she designed some dresses he sells at his shop!"

I almost lost my balance as I stared, wide eyed and mouth half open, at the card with the address written on it.

_Aunt Rose…? Aunt Rose is here? In Sweet Amoris?!_

**-End Chapter 2-**

**A/N:** Phew… -gets shot- I changed the ending so many times because I wasn't satisfied with how Anne got to see Nathaniel's bruises. In one part, I made her bump into him in the middle of the street so his cup of coffee would ruin his shirt and he'd have to change at her house. "Whoops, accident, I saw that on your back while I stepped into the wrong room", etc. But I didn't like it, so I changed it. And then again, and again, aaaaaand again.

Either way, I kind of want to dig deeper in Nathaniel's story as we do on Castiel's in the game. I want Nathaniel and Anne to get closer due to the chains they have on them. They face their problems differently: Nathaniel tries to please his father, while Anne fights against it. Things will go down sooner or later… for better or for worse.

Castiel's story with Deborah will also be written… Not them dating and all, I mean the whole Deborah fiasco in Sweet Amoris High School. His parents will appear here too, even though they don't appear in the game… yet. Chino, we're waiting. _Patiently_. I can tell her designs will be great. I already saw Rosa's mom's design, and let me tell you: _it's freaking amazing_. _She's gorgeous._

Lovely Aunt Rose will make her appearance in the next chapter, as well as Castiel once again. Maybe he's not as a jerk as Anne think he is, and she'll want to know him better… Let's just see how it ends!

By the way, I hope you people got good scores in St. Valentine's event. I got Castiel's "gift" in two accounts (I laughed for two minutes straight. "Doesn't mean anything"? Are you serious, man?) and Nathaniel's cat necklace in another. Nathaniel has good taste in gifts.

**Replies to reviews:**

**-Ami Love1:** Castiel is a jerk indeed, and none can resist the urge to just go and throw an iced tea can to his face. Maybe it'll lead to love :3 One sided? Both of them? –gets shot in the face for being a prick- but actually that's one of my plans, yes.

-**FeZeTh13:** Thanks so much for the review, and I saw you as well in the Valentine's fic! I'm so glad you liked both X3 Yes, Anne's situation isn't easy, but she'll grow in the story. That's one of my focuses. The confusion about "who will she end up with" was planned, of course. Nathaniel's smile has her charmed, but she has to know Castiel a little better yet (which she will, and it'll go faster once they start bickering in a friendly way) First they have to reach the friend stage. Castiel isn't easy to befriend, but he already has interest in her. It'll grow, though. I will try my best to keep the humor, romance and drama at balance so this fic doesn't get boring!

Thanks so much for reading, see you all in the next chapter!

(Which will be posted in here this week, I'm already working on it)

_-Mond_


	4. Chapter 3: Of corgis and aunts

**A/N:** Yes! Here's chapter 3, as promised. I accidentally forgot to explain the whole last names references in the last chapter… Crap.

Anyways, Castiel gets a bit softer in this part. Who would've said? He and Anne cut off their "hatred"… which didn't exist in the first place. Bunch of idiots, I swear.

As always, reviews are appreciated. And any mistake I've overlooked, I can correct it. I did double check, though… Replies to reviews and more in the lower Author's Note.

By the way, I put Kiki here as a corgi… I'm not sure if it's his race in the game, but it looks like one. I'm sticking with corgi for this story, although a poodle fits the principal better… Corgis are cute. Dogs are cute. Cats are cute too. Owls as well- I'll… just go and shut up. Yup.

Onwards!

_-Mond_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own My Candy Love and blah blah blah.

* * *

**Chapter 3:** Of corgis and aunts

**-From the eyes of Castiel Keimar-**

Class was boring. Why the hell didn't I skip? Oh, right: Lysander was to blame.

Good thing I had friends that worried about me… but the whole "get to class" part wasn't in the "friend contract", or whatever.

Second last hour of class on a Friday. Definitely could've skipped this one, and I definitely was going to skip the next.

I looked around the classroom, trying to kill some time: bitchy blonde was babbling about her plans with her two friends, or servants, I didn't even know or care. Bitchy blonde's idiotic brother was taking notes. The Miller twins were off to their own la-la-land, probably filled with Triforces and men in nothing more than a single apron, respectively. Besides me was an empty place, good to rest the feet. Behind me, Lysander was taking notes… in his Math's notebook? Did he lose the English one again?

I tapped the desk with my pencil, growing impatient. Suddenly a small ball of paper fell right in front of me, rolling over my desk. I looked around for the perpetrator, ready to give them a piece of my mind, but instead of what I was expecting (Amber trying to get my attention was one of the options) I saw Kim giving me an apologetic look.

"Wasn't for you," she mouthed. _What the hell?_

"Watch your aim." I hissed. Instead of saying more, she pointed to… me? No, behind me.

Wasn't that Devay over there, next to Lys? But she wasn't writing, she was just spacing out, staring at her notebook as if it'd grow fangs and bite her at any moment.

"Hey," I hissed. Got no response. "Carrot." Still no response. I saw Kim grinning at my way to get her attention.

"You won't get far with that." I heard her whisper. Good thing Mr. Marshall was too busy to even pay attention to us, let alone me. I was the "lost cause" of the class. I gave no shits.

I snapped my fingers right in front of the ginger, which made her jump slightly on her seat.

"What do you want?" She hissed back at me.

I just pointed at Kim before turning back to my notebo- wait, shit, I wasn't even planning to take notes. Argh.

Just twenty more minutes… and one hour.

_Fuck it._

As soon as the bell rang, signaling the end of class, I sneaked through the students going upstairs to the Biology classroom and went through the rooftop door with the "borrowed" keys. As soon as I breathed the fresh air, I felt reinvigorated.

Pretty sure Lysander was cursing at me. Mentally, because he was a gentleman, of course.

I chuckled to myself, taking out a cigarette and enjoying the view from my favourite place. Too bad I'd left my guitar at home. I could've used some practice. No one could hear me up there, it was like a safe place, away from everything.

Instead, I took out my notebook, filled with skull doodles and some lyrics from Lysander, and started to write some random lyrics that came to my mind. I changed some lines and started humming a tune for it. For some reason, all the lyrics I could think of were about fire.

_Riiiiiiiiiiing!_

_What the crap?_

I glanced at my phone, checking the time. It couldn't be the last bell so soon- shit! It was!

I picked everything up on a rush and spat out the cigarette, making it fall with the other consumed ones. Did I smoke that much or were they from my previous visits? I didn't even count. I shoved them all away. If someone found out I was up here, they could change the locks. Not exactly what I wanted.

The hallways were empty so I managed to walk out without a problem or teachers on my back. Fantastic. Almost whistling a tune, I made my way out. I was a step away from the entrance when something caught my attention: a flash of orange dashing in front of me and disappearing into the gym.

"… What the hell?"

**-From the eyes of Anne Devay-**

My luck. It'd been just my _damn_ luck. The day I was on a rush to get away from school was the _goddamn_ day the _goddamn_ principal's corgi ran away from the _goddamn_ building.

Why did I have to go back? Why? Why did I leave my things back in class? Damn Kim and her "I don't mean to be rude, kid, but I think we've got plenty of homework for the weekend and without the books, you're kinda screwed" and then me having to run back to get all my things. Then the dog running on me, almost making me fall, and the principal pinning the "chase the dog" task on me.

I'd made plans to go to my aunt's house after class, but apparently that would have to wait for a bit. I didn't call her or anything to warn her (not that I could anyways), so I wasn't "late" per se, but I wasn't patient either. I had so many questions for her…

The gym's doors were open when I reached it, following the brown blur named "Kiki". Who left the door open, anyways? I could swear Mr. Maschen was worse than Mr. Faraize sometimes.

"Kiki, boy!" I whistled. "Come here, I've got your toys!"

There was no sound except for my own quick breathing and steps. I thought I'd heard something, but when I turned around, there was nothing there. With a frown, I kept looking around. Basket balls, baseball bats, three piles of mats… But no dog. At least not on sight.

"Kiki!" I called again. My throat was starting to hurt from all the calls I'd given, and I was sure I looked like an idiot. I was about to give up on the place and look somewhere else when a deep voice whispered right into my ear:

"Sounds like you're in trouble."

I let out a high-pitched scream, startled. Someone laughed behind me.

"… Keimar, I swear to God…" I gripped the shirt right over my chest, feeling my heart racing due to the scare. My ears were burning. He was laughing his ass off at me, I could tell. "What the hell was that for?!" I snarled.

"Couldn't resist." He managed to say between broken breaths, he even wiped a tear off his eye. "Oh God, this was so worth it."

I didn't even bother to give him an answer and instead just looked around for a brown… ball… of fur. Freaking corgis. I saw Castiel giving me a puzzled look. "No remark?"

"I'm busy." I spat out. He leaned backwards on the wall.

"Doing what? Are you playing treasure hunt or some kiddy game?"

"Yes. The treasure's name is Kiki, and this pirate would rather sink her ship and swim away than look for it anymore."

The redhead chuckled at my reply and then fell silent while I scanned the gym once more. "I swear I saw him get in here…" I mumbled.

"Corgis are small. He could've sneaked out while you weren't looking."

Was he making fun of me? I turned to face him, not sure what to think until it dawned on me: how did he know Kiki was a corgi?

It was as if Castiel had just read my mind. "Been there, done that." He said, pointing at himself. "It's a pain to get a grip on him. I'm not the only one who can tell you about it."

I let out a sigh. "I should've stayed home."

"No way, I'd have missed that scream then."

"Jerk."

… Oh shit. I'd said that out loud. My hands flew to my face and I shook my head in frustration. The last thing I needed at the moment was my brain messing up on me.

"Could you please just… go away?" Poor attempt at shoving him away. As I'd expected, and definitely not hoped, he didn't leave. His grey eyes twinkled with amusement.

"And miss this? No way."

_Life's not fair._

A loud bark echoed through the gym and I looked around frantically for the source. "Kiki! Where are you?"

Another bark, then a brown blur running towards… the exit?

_Oh, shit!_

Castiel moved to his left, blocking the door, while I lunged forwards trying to make the little creature stop in his tracks. It worked, but before I could get ahold of Kiki, the little bastard made a sprint to the door right by my side, dodging Castiel as well. I gaped.

"Well, that was close," I heard Castiel say behind me, "by the way, Devay, you're still on the floor."

_Crap. I can't get one right today._ Something wrapped around my right wrist and pulled me up: Castiel. His grip was a bit strong and I couldn't help the wince. He pulled away quickly.

Me? I was stunned. Did he just help me?

"What?" He raised a brow, arms crossed over his chest. I couldn't even think of a remark. I rubbed my wrist.

"Nothing… Oh crap, where did Kiki go?!"

Castiel lazily pointed to the gym's exit door. "Outside."

I buried my face in my hands, unable to believe it.

"C'mon, carr-" before he could even say that obnoxious nickname, I raised my index finger, shutting Castiel up. That lopsided smirk of his was present during every single second.

"Don't. Even. Say it."

He raised his hands. "Alright, fine. Just saying you might want to go and hunt Kiki while he's still inside the building."

He didn't have to tell me twice. I was already bolting out of the gym, seeing the dog running inside the school building. I looked at the time: one hour. I'd been chasing that thing for one damn hour. _This better pay off…_

It took me a few seconds to realize that Castiel was following me. My first thought was that he only wanted to enjoy a "good show", as he always said when he tried to piss me off, but I got it wrong. Instead, he looked around for Kiki with me, checking inside the classrooms.

To be honest, I'd thought he hated me. The "why" was obvious: he was always messing with me, pissing me off and making me mad. Our only link was Lysander, who kept assuring me he was trying his best to be friendly. Friendly my ass. "Doing favors" and "being nice" wasn't in his vocabulary, so far I knew.

Or so I thought.

Maybe I got the wrong first impression of him?

Kiki's head poked out of one of the classrooms and I got ready for another chase, but something held me back. Castiel was grabbing my arm, shaking his head. "You'll only scare him away."

I felt him shove something into my hand: a dog treat in the shape of a bone. I gave him a puzzled look.

"Try to lure him with that." Castiel said, sitting down on the hallway floor. I mimicked him, holding the treat in my hand and extending it towards Kiki's direction. The corgi sniffed the air and started to walk towards me at a slow pace.

Holy shit. It worked.

I got ahold of Kiki, who was now calmer than before and looked like he had no intention of running away anymore. He was heavy, so it was hard for me to lift him up. Castiel did it instead, taking the dog away from me, and gave it back to the principal without a word. I watched him slip away while the principal kept giving me her thanks, or whatever she was giving me. All I knew was that next time I saw a corgi in the hallways, I'd run away in the opposite direction or hide in a classroom.

I found Castiel at the entrance, one foot out of Sweet Amoris.

"Hey!" I called. He didn't stop or looked back. He had his headphones off, so my bets were that he was ignoring me. "Keimar!" Still no response. I didn't want to run anymore, tired as I was. I tried once more: "Castiel!"

He stopped in his tracks.

**-From the eyes of Castiel Keimar-**

Devay had called my name. Not "Radish" or "Keimar", but "Castiel".

Why did it sound so weird? I usually didn't pay attention to people saying my name… hell, it was weird to do so, at least for me. So why did that take me by surprise?

I turned around. She seemed relieved that I'd stopped. Relieved and tired. The whole chase probably had worn her out. "What's biting you?"

She seemed taken aback. "Thanks for the dog treat."

Oh.

"T'was nothing. I had a few for Demon, but he's becoming picky lately."

I didn't realize she'd been walking beside me down the road. Did she live down here?

"Demon?"

I smirked at the thought. "My dog. His name is Demon."

She laughed. "I see. Why aren't I surprised at the name, coming from you?"

A smirk found its way to my lips. "You trying to be friendly with me, tiger? I thought you hated my guts." I asked, half-joking, half-serious.

"Did I just get a nickname upgrade? And that's because you hate _my_ own guts." I couldn't tell if she was serious about the last part or not.

"I think tiger fits you better. And no, I don't hate you, little girl. Why would you think so?"

She looked surprised, brown eyes wide open and staring at me. I almost didn't laugh. Almost. "Are you _seriously_ asking me that? You need to work on your social skills, Keimar."

_Great. Lysander number two._ "My social skills are just fine. And you can drop the last name thing."

"Can I treat you with familiarity then?" She asked with half a smirk. A month ago I'd have said "no", but the thought didn't throw me back right at the moment. I didn't get along with girls (even if they drooled over me, let's admit it) except for a couple of them: Kim, because of her outgoing nature, and Rosalya, thanks to Lysander. The rest were either avoiding me because I was "scary" or just drooling over me in the distance not wanting other thing than just a date (and what could end) with me.

The only one I've gotten real close to was Deborah, and she'd left with my heart on the palm of her hand a year ago.

The only news I've gotten from her were the reports in some music magazines I'd saved at home.

"Only if I get to do the same." I finally answered her.

"Fine, then. Equal rights, it is." Anne mocked a bow at me. "Castiel?"

I ignored the weird feeling in my chest when she said my name. "Yeah?"

"Just don't call me stupid nicknames anymore."

"Alright, tiger. No more can throwing at my head, either."

"Just if you stop being a jerk."

"Aren't you asking a bit too much from me?"

**-From the eyes of a passerby-**

It was strange for both of them to act as friendly as they were at the moment. The stupid realization of not the other not hating them had gotten a weight off their shoulders, as strange as it sounded to them. It simply was.

Most first impressions Castiel got from people when he met them weren't exactly good. He was "Mr. Broody Brood" with no remedy, but she hadn't known that when she met him. It turned out that Lysander was right, and that Castiel just needed to work in his social skills a little more. Meanwhile on Castiel's side, he'd thought she'd be another one of his classmates, someone else he'd pay no attention to, but he got that wrong.

_Both_ got each other wrong.

Castiel walked with no destination in mind, he didn't want to go home at all. The place was lonely and his only company were his guitar and his dog, and the occasional Castillion visitor. Living alone could be paradise sometimes and a burden many others.

At one point, Anne didn't know where they were or where they were heading. She mentally smacked herself for tagging along.

"Hey, do you know where Ruby Road is?"

Castiel looked over his shoulder. "Ruby Road? You mean the block of all rainbow houses?"

"Er…" she was about to say "no", but her memories about her aunt said otherwise. That was probably the place. "Maybe…?"

Castiel raised a brow, stopping in his tracks and turning around to face the ginger fully. Curiosity got the best of him. "Why do you want to go there?"

"I need to meet someone."

Castiel didn't know what went over him: the frown came on its own and he felt his body tense for a moment.

_What's wrong with me?_

It was like when he'd helped her get up back in the gym: his whole body temperature raised, and he could've sworn his skin burnt when it touched hers. It was strange, even for him. And now he blamed it on his own hormones.

"You got a date?" Castiel mentally smacked himself when the words came out on their own. He saw Anne's expression change from confusion to utter amusement. Then she laughed. That annoyed him even more.

"No, of course not! I'm just going to visit someone."

"A friend?"

Anne raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was so curious. She didn't mind, at least about that matter as long as he didn't dig deeper. "Didn't think you were the nosy type." She jokingly said. "She's a relative of mine I haven't seen in years, but I don't know where the place is. I only know she lives there."

"Can't you call her?"

Her lips were pressed into a thin line. "No, I don't have her number."

"… You're kidding me."

Castiel sighed. It wasn't like he had anything better to do, anyways.

**-From the eyes of Anne Devay-**

Apparently, Ruby Road had that name for a reason.

_And what a reason._

Castiel laughed at my face when I saw the block of houses painted with the most flamboyant colours I'd ever seen on a house. Some even had patters on their walls and fences. The gardens were decorated with all kind of flowers I'd never seen and the strangest statues, either in pure white marble or coloured in the same way as the houses. Even the typical pink flamingo decoration was in some of them, and some gardens had fountains placed in the center.

I watched the numbers as I passed by, looking for number five… and I eventually found it.

The house was big, around three floors (or so I could tell by the windows) and it had a giant garden decorated with red, pink and purple flowers. A small fountain was in the middle of the path that led to the house inside the metallic fence, painted in blue.

Castiel grimaced while I did my best to keep a poker face.

I was nervous. Really, really nervous. How was I supposed to feel? Six years had passed since I last heard of her. The only lead I had was Lara had told me on the phone a few weeks after she'd left:

"_Trust Aunt Rose. It's not her fault."_

I trusted Lara.

I pressed the doorbell. Quick steps sounded from the inside and I thought I saw one of the curtains move.

Then the door slammed open, revealing a woman with a very familiar hair I'd seen before.

Her eyes were light blue and her hair was dyed fuchsia, tied up in a high ponytail that fell in soft waves all the way to her hips. She was wearing a purple blouse, a puffy blue skirt that reached her knees and white high heels decorated with small glittering stars.

Yep. That was my aunt Rose, no doubt.

"Oh my God!" I heard her gasp as she ran up to us. Wait, us? Crap, I had forgotten Castiel was still here. Didn't they miss him at home? "You're here! Anne, my baby!"

"Whoa!" I yelped when she suddenly pulled me into the tightest of hugs. "A-aunt Rose… I c-can't breathe…"

"Oh, sorry." She pulled away and looked at Castiel from head to toe. "I wasn't expecting you to bring company... Well, I was hoping to see Vivian."

"I was just leaving," Castiel stated, turning around just when I was about to protest, "I just made sure she didn't get lost in the way."

Was he smirking at me?

Oh the bastard. He was.

"You're lucky I don't have any cans to throw at your face!" I yelled, not caring about my aunt being there. He was already far away from me, but he still turned around and waved at me.

"Your aiming sucks, tiger!"

"Get lost!" I laughed. Then, my magnificent brain reminded me that my aunt was right at my side. Oops much?

She was covering her mouth, trying not to laugh. "Glad to see you got friends here. Want to come inside?"

I didn't know why my nervousness increased when Castiel left. I took a deep breath. "Yeah, sure."

The inside of the house was exactly like you'd expect right after seeing the garden. Apparently my aunt had gotten a liking for giant feathers that reminded me of a peacock's.

The house even had a pink fireplace. I laughed at the sight.

"Still liking pink, right Aunt Rose?"

She was sitting in one of her puffy couches which looked like a cupcake, looking at me examining the house. "Yes, from my very early years, and I'm not planning to change."

I stopped right at a photo of all of our family members together: my mom, a young Lara, a nine year old me, a baby Vivian, our father and Aunt Rose with her arm around my mother's shoulders.

"You never called." I said, facing her. She placed down the cup of porcelain she was holding with the warm tea inside.

"I did, right after Lara left." Aunt Rose sighed. It was long and her trademark big smile had changed into one of sadness. I'd never seen that on her. "But Lynne didn't let me talk to you, girls."

"Mom? Why?"

"I… well, we got into a fight, after your older sister left. I'd warned Lynne about your father so many times, but she never listened. One day she said something that just shocked me, and I confronted her about it. She doesn't take criticism about your father well, and she said she didn't want me in your lives anymore."

She fell silent, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear it at all.

"You didn't like dad, eh?" I tried to light the mood.

"Not one bit. I'm sure you know why Lara left as soon as she turned eighteen, right?"

It didn't take a genius if you knew my father. "Dad?"

Aunt Rose nodded. "Yes, him. She feared he was turning a lot like her own mother."

I raised a brow. Lara's mother, that woman we knew nothing about… or at least I didn't.

"What about her?"

"You don't know?" Aunt Rose's eyes widened. "Sweetie, she's locked up in a psychiatric center charged with mental and physical abuse. She made Lara's childhood a living hell until your father divorced her and married my sister, taking Lara with them."

_Oh my God._

"I had no idea…" I breathed.

Aunt Rose took a sip of her drink. "Of course not. Her mother is dead for her, and she won't talk about it."

Holy shit. My home was really a madhouse.

Aunt Rose was staring at me while I let myself get lost in thought.

Lara's mother and my father were alike, then? That was the real reason Lara left? Because he was turning into someone like that woman?

Then where did that leave both me and Vivian…?

"Anne." I looked at Aunt Rose. "Take care of yourself. Lean on your friends when you need it, and find someone you can trust fully. Trust me, you'll need people around while you're inside that house."

I nodded, not wanting to talk about it anymore. Why couldn't we just be a normal every day family instead of having all this drama over us?

Lean on my friends? Lean on who?

I didn't want to keep talking about said issue, so I changed the topic. "What are you doing in Sweet Amoris?"

She gave me her biggest smile, showing me pearly white teeth. "Isn't it obvious? I moved years ago, when I lost contact with your family. I needed a change of place, so a small city like this was perfect, and I'd also heard there was a clothes shop here where my designs could be sold."

"Really? You design dresses?" I didn't know that. More like I probably didn't remember… I knew she always designed her own clothes, though. I had no idea she sold them.

"I design clothes to my lovely favourite shopper Leigh Castillion, owner of the Castillion shop. He and his brother have a good sense of fashion in my opinion, but they could use a bit more of colour- honey, what's wrong?"

My jaw fell yet one more time for that day.

My aunt made dresses for the Castillion's clothes shop.

"You know Leigh and Lysander?" I asked.

"Apparently you do, too." My aunt smiled, placing the empty cup over the table and leaning back, crossing her legs. "Are they your friends? I think I've also seen that redhead somewhere before, with Lysander."

"They're close friends, Castiel and him. Yes."

"I thought he was your boyfriend or something. You know, this is the first time I've seen you being like that with a boy."

"… Aunt Rose, that's not funny."

We talked a bit more about ourselves: what she'd been doing, her stories with Leigh and designing, my school life so far… I was glad I got to talk to someone freely like this, with no boundaries or a phone between us. I got nervous when she told me she'd try and get in contact with my mother to at least try to fix things, but after her assurance that the worst thing that could happen would be my mother sending her to Hell and back with a curse, I felt a little better.

I was so glad I'd rung that doorbell, and I definitely didn't regret following Lara's advice of trusting Aunt Rose.

We stayed there until late in the evening, just talking and she showed me her house. She even offered me a room if I ever needed to sleep out if things ever "got bad" at home, and she told me to bring Vivian as well someday to meet her. I looked forward to it, I wouldn't lie about that. Lastly, she gave me her phone number.

She ended up driving me home in her pink car, which had flamingo designs on the tires…

Really, Aunt Rose?

My mother asked me where I'd been, to which I answered "with Kim". She bought it. Vivian didn't. I knew she'd bombard me with questions, and I complied when she tackled me in my room demanding me to know about the "mysterious woman". I couldn't tell her that she was our aunt, I'd rather let Aunt Rose tell her herself.

When I told Vivian I'd get her to see her house one day, she beamed. She even looked more excited when I made her promise to keep it a secret between us.

"Like a super, big secret? A good one? Not a bad one?"

"Yes, a big and good one."

The weekend went by fast… once I finished my homework. Because damn, that was long. Mr. Faraize was deadly when he could send homework. I wouldn't blame Armin anymore from trying to distract him from sending it. Sending that much should be a crime.

On Monday I found Kim and Rosalya waiting for me near my locker, while Castiel and Lysander were in the opposite row. Castiel waved at me and I waved back, much to Lysander's and my friends' surprise.

"Yo, tiger."

"Morning to you too, Castiel."

Kim looked at me, then at Castiel, then at Lysander and lastly at Rosa, who shrugged. She walked up and faced the window, as if looking for something.

"What in the world are you doing?"

"Looking for flying pigs. I can't believe you two are getting along now."

Lysander however, looked happy.

"I knew you only needed to work a bit on your social skills." I heard him whisper to Castiel as we all walked our way into class. "Was it that hard?"

"Zip it, Lys."

Lots of things had changed in only three weeks.

And I didn't know they'd change even more between all of us.

**-End Chapter 3-**

**A/N: **Oh my God, this costed to write. A lot. –smacked- Here's the weekly update, with a bit of… Castinne? I don't know, man. I'm just tipping the scales in here.

Anne will grow fonder of Castiel with time, and the whole family issue will develop little by little, to not throw it all in one sigle chapter. I'm leaving that for the final arc.

Summer is coming in this fic, and that means... Exams and the beach. Rosalya and her beach parties! Who will attend? -dances- Castiel and Nath. And Boris' nephew Dake. That's all I'm going to say about the next chapter. Thanks for reading! Here, have a corgi... Oh crap, there he goes. CATCH 'IM!

Reply to reviews:

-**Ava**: he's a jerk indeed. And that's the plan during the first part of the story, yes -winks at-

-**ChloeWoodxX**: I write as fast as I can, and Chloe's a good name, I give you that... Maybe if I add a friend from Anne's old city when Ken comes back, I'll name ner Chloe. I like that name X3

Thanks for reading again, see you all in chapter 4!

-_Mond_


	5. Chapter 4: Summer Sun, part 1

**A/N: **So here's the weekly chapter of Drowning in Fire… from last week… I'm six days late –nervous laugh here-. I'll get in shape for next one. This one's a pretty long chapter and I fell sick last week, to boot. I've got a few warnings to give: I don't have a younger sister, neither I grew with an older one, so I don't know if I'm writing this kind of relationship correctly… well, I suppose it depends on people and I'm taking in count Anne's situation, but still… I made a profile about the Devays in the lower Author's Note to help a bit to understand the story if someone wants to check.

I want to improve, so criticism is appreciated. Also, see the new cover? That's my job… I tried. Drawing fire in SAI was fun, though… if you use a tutorial, that is.

As always, I'm not a native English speaker and I've never been to any English-speaking country-city-whatever before, so please if you see any grammar mistakes feel free to send me a message about it and I'll correct it.

Donnie, I know you've been waiting for this chapter for a few days, I'm so sorry for the delay ;v; I hope I made it justice!

Onwards to the story, then!

_-Mond_

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own My Candy Love. I only own the Devay family… for now.

* * *

**Chapter 4: **Summer Sun (Part 1: _Troubles fade with a Dance and a Guitar_)

**-From the eyes of a passerby-**

May reached its end and eventually June arrived, and with it, the rise of temperatures and the week of finals.

It was something out of the ordinary: all students locked up in their houses studying all they could (or at least those who cared) to pass to the next course.

"Only one year and a month, only one year and a month…" Anne kept repeating to herself while she studied (or tried to). It was during those days when she despised having chosen the Science branch, maybe going through the other would've made her life easier, but she liked it better than the other options. She had to finish to be able to go away as soon as she turned over age, that's what she had in mind.

Study groups gathered in friends' houses and libraries, and Anne found herself missing Nathaniel's help when she was at Kim's house or at Iris' studying with the group: Kim, Melody, Iris and Violette. What she didn't miss was Castiel's _good_ aiming when she was studying in the library.

The week of finals went by like a tidal wave, washing off all free time people could get. Luckily for all of the students in Anne's grade, they all passed, even those who didn't seem to care (namely Castiel Keimar and Amber Prime). Witchcraft, some said. Cheating, others said. If they did, they didn't catch them, that was for sure.

And then summer vacations arrived.

A lazy Friday morning, when Anne was alone in her house (her parents still had work until August) and Vivian was off to one of her friend's birthday party, she got a call from Rosalya just right after she got out of the shower.

"Hey, Rosa. What's up?"

"Nothing much, we're just planning something big." Anne could picture her smile at the other end of the line and she got one herself, messily drying her hair with a towel.

"Mind to share some details?"

"Alright, just because you asked so nicely…" Silence. "Okay, no. Forget it. You'll see it for yourself. Are you free tonight?"

"Well, yeah… why?" She asked, wary.

"You'll see, be patient! Come to Leigh's shop, I'll be waiting for you there."

_Click!_

She didn't like that last part.

"… I really hope this isn't what Leigh told me about setting people on a blind date…"

**-From the eyes of Anne Devay-**

I arrived to Castillion's Clothes Shop around half an hour after Rosalya's call, wondering if it'd have been better if I just called it off and stayed home, but on the other hand I just wanted to do something instead of spend the entire day in the house alone. Rosalya was at the front of the shop, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. She had a short purple dress that hugged her every form, and her white hair was tied up in a pretty ponytail. I waved at her from a distance and all she returned was a scowl.

"Where were you?! You're at least twenty minutes late!"

"You just said "come to Leigh's shop", you didn't say the time." I shrugged playfully. She scanned me from head to toe.

"What are you wearing?"

I looked at myself: a loose black and white tank top, white shorts and flip flops. "Clothes?"

"You're not coming with those. Do you have a bikini?"

"I've got a swimsuit at home- Hey!" I couldn't even finish as she pushed me inside the shop. "Wait, hang on! What are you doing?!"

"Good thing I came prepared. And you're not wearing a swimsuit. Now get in there, you need to get dressed!"

I got shoved into a changing room with no mercy and no time to even wave at Lysander and Leigh, who were inside and watched with amusement how Rosalya pushed me all the way through the shop. I was about to protest when Rosalya shoved some clothes under my nose.

"… What's this?"

"What you're going to wear."

My eyes narrowed. "You aren't going to set me in a blind date, are you?"

She looked surprised before she burst out laughing. "Oh no, not a date! But you'll need this. Try it on, and hurry up! Leigh's got his car ready."

"… Rosa, I'm still here-"

"Hush, you!"

I rolled my eyes and stepped in to change into whatever she'd given me: a bikini and a dress.

The bikini had light blue color and it had some straps falling loosely at each side of my hips, my back and the back of my neck, where the upper part was tied. I also saw the dress she'd passed me: strapless, white and almost as short as hers… I had to admit she had good eye when it came to choose clothes, no doubt.

When I stepped out, Rosalya was holding a brush in one hand and a hair straightener in the other.

I gave her a warning look. "… You're not touching my hair."

"Shut up and sit down. I'm going to comb it up in a bun."

"I can do that myself."

"It's better if I do it. Now sit down."

I sighed, giving up.

When Rosalya started combing my hair behind me, I started to feel nostalgic for some reason.

Right… Lara used to do that when I was little.

_She left because of our father…_ The voice in my mind said, and my hands gripped the end of the dress as I felt hands going down my hair. Soon, my grip loosened, feeling soothed thanks to Rosalya combing my hair.

"There, we're done!" Rosalya suddenly said, making me snap my head up. I looked in the mirror: my copper colored hair was tied up in a simple bun with a light blue silk strap and she'd decorated my hair with some white flowered hairpins. Some copper-ish strands were loose around my face apart from my fringe.

It… looked nice.

"Whoa." I let out while Rosalya smiled proudly, jumping off her seat.

"See? This is why you should let me take care of your hair more often and let me see your wardrobe. I bet it could use some cleaning."

I couldn't help the smile. Maybe I'd give that decision of mine about not letting her see my wardrobe a second thought. "Yeah, yeah, sure thing… but why the hair fixing?"

"Heehe~," she giggled, suddenly looking the most happy human being on Earth. "Well, I invited some people to the beach and we're having a party tonight, so the least you can do is look a little presentable. Let's go!"

I should've known.

I didn't know how we managed to slip inside Leigh's black BMW with all the bags Rosalya was carrying, but we did. Leigh and Lysander were sitting on the front while both Rosalya and I sat on the backseats, chatting about how our first week of summer had gone. The Castillion brothers didn't speak a single word… or if they did, I didn't hear them thanks to Rosa.

We arrived at the beach around ten minutes later. My jaw fell when I saw known faces down the shore. Kim waved at me in the distance, and she looked _stunning_ with her aqua bikini decorated with many beads. She had a tribal-looking tattoo right over her abdomen, to boot. Violette was wearing a grey swimsuit which had pretty spiraling patterns, and she was wearing a hand-made necklace made with seashells. _Cute._

Peggy was sunbathing, wearing a green one-piece with a cut that showed her belly button. To my surprise I found that she had a purple piercing in it. Iris and Melody were a bit further, the first wearing a simple purple two-piece and the second a simple aqua swimsuit with a dolphin decoration. Both seemed to be working on something, and then I saw the containers with all the ice cubes and the cans, plus all the snacks.

I turned around and found myself face-to-face with Rosalya, who had taken off her dress already. She was wearing a purple one piece, but it was pretty revealing because it was open from up the chest all the way down to her stomach, and the only thing that held both parts together were crossed straps.

"Pretty, eh?" Rosalya grinned. "Leigh chose it for me."

"You two are like fashion gods or something." I said, still mouth agape at her figure.

"That's because we _are_ fashion gods."

I couldn't hold back my laugh. "Alright, you win. Is everyone here, by the way?"

"Hm…" Rosalya looked around. "Let's see… Nathaniel should be on his way and Lysander's off to get Castiel. Nina wanted to come, but in the end she couldn't… And the Miller twins are on their way, too. Capucine said, and I quote: "I'd rather be with Amber than with you, people". So there are only four people left if Alexy manages to get Armin out of the house."

I looked at Rosalya, surprised at her choices. "Nathaniel and Castiel? Do you want a bloodbath?"

She shrugged. "They'll ignore each other as always, and Nath will probably leave before the party even starts. You know him that much."

"Fine… and who's Nina?" I checked that everyone was from our class, yet I couldn't remember anyone named like that.

"Oh," her eyes shone for a moment, "she's a big fan of Lysander. She drops by the shop once in a while to check if he's in, and she dresses like a doll."

"You mean she's a fan of his singing?"

"Yeah… well, that, and a whole fan of… well, himself."

I snorted, getting the picture. "You mean she's smitten over him."

"Exactly."

We heard crashing and a yelp a bit further away. Rosalya turned around while I looked over her shoulder: Melody and Iris had gotten some problems while placing the cans and now there was a handful of them scattered on the sand around them.

"… Should we go help them?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think we should."

Violette and Kim, seeing the mess, soon joined us four and in less than two minutes we had every can back in their containers. We sat down in the sand. I was distractedly chatting with Kim when I suddenly felt something cold on my shoulder, near my neck, and I let out a shriek. Covering the cold area with one hand, I turned around.

… I'd had a hunch, a small one, but I couldn't believe I'd been right.

There was Castiel laughing and holding an icy can in one of his hands while Lysander watched from behind him with arms crossed. I really tried to hold it back, but the scowl just came out. "What was that for?" Great, that sounded more like a horrible whine, which made smirk grow wider.

"It's fun." He tossed something at me and I raised both hands to catch it: my favourite brand of iced tea. I stared at the can, bewildered and mouth half-agape. When I looked up, he was smirking at me. "You're welcome. The "freeze" was just my payment."

I closed my mouth. "… You could've asked me for actual money."

"Nah. This is better."

I didn't know if I was supposed to grow mad or be grateful for the drink, so I just kept a poker face, unsure. Someone elbowed me from behind, but before I could turn around I heard Kim whispering something in my ear:

"Damn, did you see them in their bathing suits?"

Now that she mentioned it…

My eyes wandered from Castiel to Lysander, the first one raising an eyebrow… at… my… staring… Kim was right: they didn't look bad. Lysander had a half-opened orange shirt, while Castiel was only in his bathing suit, black and red…

Damn. Why did Kim have to mention that?!

I felt my face growing hotter by the minute, and apparently they'd noticed too. I wasn't made of stone… sadly.

I'd never hated hormones as much as at that moment. I couldn't dare to even look at them.

"Enjoying the view?" Castiel asked, smirk already present.

"NO!" …I said that a bit too quickly. And loudly. I felt all eyes on me, some amused by my situation (or it was probably the idiotic face I had at the moment). "I'm- I'm going to take a walk around!"

_Nice excuse, moron_. I sprinted somewhere else. In fact, I sprinted towards Peggy, who was still sunbathing down on her towel. It was weird to see her without her whole interviewing equipment, but a day was a day, I supposed.

"Hey, newbie." She greeted with a small smile. She lifted her sunglasses away from her face. "What brings you here? Got a good scoop?"

"I enrolled three months ago, drop the nickname already." I plopped myself down near her. I wanted to take off the dress and be in the bathing two-piece Rosalya had given me. "And no, just needed a break." I opened the can and took a small sip. _Nice._

"Still a newbie until September, I'm afraid." Her smile widened at my last statement and I knew I should've kept my mouth shut. "Really? Getting uncomfortable with someone? Got in a fight with one of the girls?" She eyed the group in the distance. "Or… was it with someone else?"

Another sip, this time longer. "Not really… I just needed some air."

She eyed me, unconvinced. "Sure… hey, why are you still in that dress? Everyone's changed already."

_Drat. She's right._ "Ah, well… I forgot." I liked Peggy, but sometimes she was too nosy for my taste. She was a good friend of Iris', so I could live with that. "I'm going to take this off." _Also I need to get on some sunscreen._

I made my way towards where Rosalya had left her bag (among Lysander's and Leigh's), finishing the can mid-way and tossing it away in a garbage can near the road. I pulled the dress over my head, careful not to ruin the bun. After folding it for later, I took out the bottle of sunscreen and started to rub it on my shoulders. The first touch made me wince lightly: I'd been on the sun without protection a bit longer than I'd intended.

"Ah, I was wondering where you were." I heard behind me. When I turned around I saw Nathaniel in… only a bathing suit. Right. I had forgotten he was supposed to come, too.

Curse my goddamn luck.

Why me?

I cleared my throat. _Hormones._

We probably were just staring at each other. Nathaniel fidgeted and looked away. I couldn't see properly, but I could swear he was red.

"You look nice…" Nathaniel's comment caught me off guard. When I tried to look at him, he looked away again. I suddenly felt self-conscious of myself.

Awkward.

Then something hit me: the mark I'd seen a few weeks ago on his back.

Were they… was he okay?

He frowned at me. "What's wrong? You look pale."

I shook my head, focusing on something else. "Nothing…" I mumbled. I saw Armin and Alexy further away, the first with his eyes glued to his PSP. If Armin wasn't careful, Alexy would probably throw it away to the sea.

_Of course the marks would be gone by now if he was going without a shirt around._ I distractedly kept massaging my shoulders with the sunscreen, then my back… I tried to stretch my arms as far as I could to cover it, but it wasn't enough.

Nathaniel chuckled and smiled. "Need a hand?"

I wasn't sure if I'd heard right. "You… don't mind?"

"I have to do it for Amber most of the time when we go to the beach." He said, taking the sunscreen off my hands and placing himself behind me. I grimaced: Amber was a name I certainly didn't want to hear, let alone in summer vacation.

His hands were soft. My lips were pursed together as I felt him rub the sunscreen gently along my back. I was so thankful that he couldn't see my face, which was probably the shade of Castiel's hair by now. My skin got goose bumps, and it got worse when his hand reached the back of my neck. I shivered.

_Fucking hormones._ I mentally cursed.

Spreading the sunscreen probably took him around two minutes, but it seemed like a whole hour for me. I suddenly felt Nathaniel's hand pull away from my back, and the air felt colder.

Nathaniel was smiling at me when I turned around to retrieve the sunscreen. "There. Can you reach the rest?"

I nodded.

"Oh, and maybe you should put a bit on your face. It's pretty red."

… _Crap._

* * *

Rosalya soon called us all to have a volleyball match before going for a dive, and with the help of Kim and Melody (she sure was everywhere to give a hand), we put up a net. Rosalya had the whole equipment. Now I knew what was in those bags of hers.

We made two teams formed by five people each. Violette, Rosalya and Leigh sat away to watch us play.

Nathaniel, Kim, Armin and Melody were on my team while Lysander, Castiel, Iris, Alexy and Peggy were in the other.

Kim kept running around, trying to hit the ball every time despite not being in her position. Lysander was trying as hard as he could, but apparently sports weren't his strong point. Castiel and Nathaniel shouted at each other from time to time, and to boot, it was as if they were trying to hit each other right in the face with the ball. Iris was a good thrower, while Melody was stronger than she looked when she hit the ball. Peggy tripped a lot, but when she hit, she hit as hard as Kim. Last, but not least, the Miller twins had some bickering going on between them, although not as bad as Nath and Castiel. Alexy was way better than Armin, probably because the latter only played volleyball behind a screen on a Wii.

After one hour and a half of playing and hearing cheers from the three spectators, I let myself fall on my back over the sand.

"I can't anymore…" I breathed out, brushing the hair off my face. Kim dropped right by my side, breathed as heavily as I was. I saw Lysander on the other side of the net among Castiel and Iris, all on the ground as well.

Kim swallowed. "Neither… can I… holy shit, what do they have for breakfast?"

I pointed to the other side of the net. "I think… they're wondering the… phew… the same thing about us."

They looked as bad as we did. Then Melody spoke up: "Final match's result… both teams are even!"

"We're… even…? Damn, I thought we'd won."

Her grumble just made me laugh and I felt my stomach hurt slightly. Something told me my whole body would hurt the next day.

"Hey, you think you can fetch a couple of coke cans? I need a refresher over here."

I nodded at Kim and pulled myself up. If I kept sitting any longer I was sure I wouldn't be able to get up at all. While I was making my way towards our supplies, I saw a group of people a bit further away, carrying some surfing boards. A group of surfers?

A shadow covered the container when I leaned over for the cans and I snapped my head up, startled. It was one of the surfers I'd just seen.

He was blond, tanned and had a surfing board in his hand… and another one hanging around his neck. Small size, of course. I didn't like the way he looked behind me (where Rosalya was), let alone the way he looked at _me_.

"Having fun, pretty one?"

"Probably," I grabbed two cans, "what's it to you?"

"It's not every day when I get to a beauty like you on the beach, so I just ask if she's having a good time."

_Oh, joy. A player._ "I was until you arrived."

That caught him off guard, but he still gave me a smile. "That's harsh, I'm only worrying about your wellbeing. What's your name, by the way?"

"Not telling." With that I turned back to my friends with a quick pace, thankful for being able to leave that one behind.

"Hey, wait!"

Or not. Damn it. I stopped. "What do you want?"

"Your name, please? I'll tell you mine in return."

"Not interested. How can I spell that for you?"

That guy gave me a false pout. "You'll change your mind once you see how good I am with the surfing board. I'm Dakota, by the way, but close friends just call me Dake." He winked at me. "You can call me that, too. Now how about you tell me yours?"

I grumbled, growing annoyed. "No way in h-"

"ANNE! What's taking you so long?!"

I smacked my forehead at Kim's timing. Dakota's smile just grew wider, to make it worse. "Anne, eh? That's a pretty name. It fits you perfectly."

"Look, I don't care, and I'm in a hurry." I hoped he'd get the hint and just leave me be, but instead he just tagged along, following me all the way back. I saw Melody and Iris watching as I got closer. This was getting frustrating. "What part of 'leave me alone' flew over your head?"

"Just give me five minutes of your time and you won't want me to leave you alone anymore." He winked once again.

I growled at him. "I said no."

Then, he did the worst thing he could do: he grabbed my wrist. I didn't even let him start: "Let me go."

"I'm sure your friends won't miss you! Just come see me surfing, and you'll change your mind about who do you want to stay with."

"My mind's already set." My voice was growing louder. "Let me go."

He grinned. "C'mon, don't be shy."

"I said no!"

He pulled my wrist towards the opposite direction I was heading to. "You'll have fun, I assure you."

I pulled my hand free, feeling my patience about to run out. "If you do that again I swear I'm-"

"Hey!"

That was Castiel's voice. He was heading towards where I was, followed by Rosalya, Kim and Lysander.

"Didn't you hear her? She said no." Castiel hissed while I looked at him, wide eyed. I wasn't expecting that. "But you're probably too stupid to understand it. Go away before I spell it to you with _this_." He raised his fist.

"Castiel," Lysander spoke softly, "calm down."

But Rosa made her way to the front, pushing me behind her. I suddenly felt small between all of them, and my anger was slowly dying down now that I wasn't alone.

"This zone is reserved, so unless you've been invited, you'll have to get your face off this place."

Dakota eyed Rosalya from head to toe and Lysander tensed at my side. Then he looked at Kim, who raised a brow.

"Well, unless you want to invite me…"

"No way in hell, blondie." Kim smirked and glared at him while tilting her head towards Rosa's direction. "You heard her. Can't be here, so you better get your ass off this area."

"But Anne invited me here."

"You could at least make an effort when making things up." I said. Lysander was the only one apart from Kim that looked calm.

"The lady has given you a warning, and you should follow it before we call the authorities." Lysander spoke with his soft tone.

Dakota didn't move. Instead, he looked at me again.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me? You'll have more fun."

I raised one of the cans I was carrying. "Say that again and I'm throwing this at you."

"Screw authorities, Lysander. Might as well teach him a lesson myself." Castiel stepped forward, but before he could get ahold of Dakota, I stepped in front of him. Castiel glared at me. "What are you doing?"

"It's not worth it." I said, but he tried to walk past me. I blocked his path once again and his glare grew harder.

"Outta my way."

"You'll get in trouble."

"I don't care."

"Alright, fine. I'll leave." Dakota finally said. "You sure have some… friends. You don't know what you're missing, though."

"Not much, I'm sure of it."

We watched him walk away back to where the other group of surfers was. Finally. I really didn't like to deal with people like him, neither when they were after a friend of mine of after me.

"Pff. You're stupid."

My head snapped up and I shot Castiel a wide eyed look.

"Wha- what did I do?!"

"Next time someone like him goes around you, just call us instead of trying to get rid of him with sugarcoating!"

The other three were looking at us with amusement.

My jaw couldn't fall any lower. "What?! I wasn't sugarcoating crap! I told him straight that I didn't want him around from the very begi- HEY, I'M NOT DONE!" I yelled when I saw him walking away, clearly not interested in what I had to say. Tired as I was, I didn't bother to call his name again. It was a "screw it" at its finest.

"Urgh." I groaned. "Imbecile."

Lysander laughed softly while Kim cracked up, patting my back. "You know what, kiddo? I think he was worried when he saw that one after you."

"Yeah, sure. And pigs fly."

"Hey," she raised her hands, "I didn't believe you two would get along, but karma bit me in the ass a few weeks later. I think pigs can fly, after all."

I rolled my eyes and walked back with them towards the other group: Melody and Nathaniel were placing snacks and bottles of water in bags, ready to pass them around.

Rosalya called us all to place our towels together, forming a circle, and we all had lunch together… well, I don't know if having a bunch of snacks can be called "lunch", but when you were with people out for a day, that didn't matter at all. Besides, if we got hungry we could go to the nearby WcDonald's and get something for ourselves.

We did a lot of things: random races, Armin lent me his PSP for a little bit to see if I could pass him a level of Birth by Sleep (I failed) and later on his PSP disappeared. Alexy gave up and confessed he hid it in his bag just so he could go swimming with his brother for a bit.

Violette didn't want to stay under the sun much, so she went under a parasol to draw in peace. She didn't show anyone who got closer to check.

Castiel didn't look so angry anymore, and all he was saying was that he regretted not bringing Demon with him. Lysander, with his holy patience, was nodding to all Castiel was saying. Kim and Peggy were sunbathing (still?!)… and, well, pretty much everyone was busy with different things until Iris went and dived into the sea. Melody followed, and then Kim just went and jumped off a rock. Soon after, everyone joined, me included. It was a mix of splashing and yelling, and trying to shove each other's heads into the water, or just making people trip. Castiel just kept shoving water at my face, but it was hard to chase him in the water to kick it back to him, so I gave up and went to tackle Violette.

When I realized, dusk had arrived, forming that orange tint in the horizon I loved so much. A hand waved in front of me when I was staring away.

"Hey, Nath."

He smiled. "Do you like the sunset?"

"Just the color."

He hummed, looking away as well. We were both still in the water, while everyone was getting out to rest for a bit.

"Are you leaving?" I suddenly asked, remembering Rosa's words about the beach party. To my surprise, he shook his head.

"Not really… I'd rather stay out for a bit more."

I wondered if my parents were back. I did leave a note near the phone, though…

"But I can't stay much longer. I won't be able to see the fireworks this year."

That caught my attention. "Fireworks?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "I'm sure Rosalya picked this place because you can see them better… they're fired in our neighbor city, but you can see them from here." He gestured to the beach. "The beach it's empty because people prefer to see them from where they're fired, but seeing them from here isn't bad at all."

The sky was turning navy, so we decided to get out of the water. It'd been ages since I'd last seen fireworks, so I felt giddy by just thinking about it. "Can't you stay…?"

He checked his waterproof wristwatch. Was he always carrying one? "I can stay for half an hour more, but then I have to leave."

I felt a bit down, but didn't push it.

The sky was now navy and the first stars were already out. Most of us had changed back to normal clothes after drying up. My bun was still in place, but some strands had gotten loose. Rosalya didn't seem to mind, since she was more busy setting up what looked to be a hi-fi system… that she'd brought in yet another bag.

"What's that for?"

"Music."

I snickered. "Yeah, I know what that is, but why are you putting this here?"

"For music."

"Damn it, Rosa."

She laughed. "Just music, Anne. I thought we could dance for a bit before the fireworks start!" She clapped her hands. "I asked Castiel if he wanted to play his guitar, but he shoved me off, so the other option was this. Good thing I'm always prepared."

"Yeah, I can picture you being the grandma with the sewing kit in her purse."

She threw a bag at my face while I laughed, and soon music started to blast off from the hi-fi system.

Kim immediately went to the front, dragging Violette with her. We all laughed at her attempts to get the purple haired girl to dance with her. Soon, Alexy joined, dragging Armin behind him. Poor guy, he looked beaten to the extreme.

"You say you don't like to go out, but you sure had fun in the water!" Alexy teased him, and Armin pretended to strangle him with his scarf. Those two were like kids sometimes.

Peggy and Iris joined, too. I looked for Melody, but she was busy looking for some CDs in her own bag, while Rosalya pulled Leigh to the middle of the dance, and even though the group wasn't big in number, it did look like a whole dance floor.

I was planning to watch with Nathaniel from a distance until Kim's hand grabbed mine and pulled me into the group. By instinct, I grabbed Nathaniel's hand as well and we both got pulled in. Kim was already giving her best in the middle, pushing a laughing Iris away jokingly and yelling: "Outta my way, amateurs! This is how you dance!"

My cheeks were hurting from laughing so much, but it faded when I felt warmth around my hand.

I looked at Nathaniel and he immediately let go.

"Er, I thought…" He looked as if he wanted to run away. "… that maybe you wanted to dance… I'm sorry."

I couldn't help but smile again. "Who said I didn't?"

Nathaniel's expression changed when I extended my hand towards him, and he took it mirroring my own smile. I could tell he wasn't experienced with dancing. I wasn't good but neither bad, I just knew to let my body flow with the music. I went slower for his sake, but soon enough he even loosed up a bit.

His grip on my hand wasn't strong, but he didn't let go: he twirled me around while we laughed, he pulled me towards him when I danced away, he followed my lead when I made us spin around… He didn't trip once, and he moved well. He had a nice sense of rhythm, and I wondered if he played an instrument at all. I never asked him.

For a moment, and as cliché as it sounded, I wished my life had as many good moments as these. My mind filled with bad memories I wanted to get rid of with time: a sound of my mother crying, my father punching the door until he made a hole, that feeling of pressure in my heart whenever I saw my father and Vivian, Lara's voice filled with worry every time she called, aunt Rose's face whenever she looked at a photo of mom…

"Anne?"

I had stopped dancing. My eyes met Nathaniel's.

"Are you alright?"

Good moments came with bad memories, apparently. I wanted to just punch myself for thinking about those things while I was having a good time… I couldn't bring myself to smile truthfully.

"I'm fine. I just…" I waved my hand. "Just got worried about something."

A half-truth would work. However, Nathaniel seemed unconvinced. "We can stop if you want."

I shook my head. "It's fine, really."

Silence. We were the only two who weren't dancing in the whole group, but none seemed to pay mind. I felt my hand being grabbed again and being twirled around. When I looked at Nathaniel, he was smiling softly at me. It was dark and more stars were above us all, but I could swear his face was slightly red. I stared at him with an unsure expression and he twirled me around again.

And as soon as the worries came, they went away. As simple as that. All troubles got erased as I let myself get lost in those few minutes I could get. An illusion I wanted to keep and wished it'd last.

Something made him stop in his tracks and he reached his pockets, taking out his phone. Realization hit me: he had to go back, but I'd had too much fun to feel down. He'd done a lot. Nathaniel clicked his tongue.

"I have to leave…" He didn't look like he wanted to leave at all, and I sure didn't want him to.

But all mirages fade.

Even so, he'd managed to make me feel better during one stupid moment of weakness, and that was what I'd save.

We said good-bye to each other and he waved goodbye at the rest of people. I didn't want to dance anymore, and Melody had changed the music to some group I'd never heard about. I walked away from the dancing group to somewhere else. I spotted a mix of silver and black behind a group of rocks, further away, and curious as I was, I went to take a look.

Lysander was there, sitting down with a notebook opened over his crossed legs. He looked lost in thought. I moved closer, trying to peek on what he was writing… or, drawing? What was he doing?

"It's always good to see you, Anne."

_Damn it._ "H-hey."

He looked up at me with a small smile and closed his notebook. "You wouldn't be able to see anything. It's already dark."

"Worth a try." I replied, a bit relieved that he didn't get mad or anything.

"Are they still dancing?"

I turned around. "Yeah, poor Leigh… he doesn't look like he likes being the center of attention."

"Sadly, Rosalya doesn't seem to mind that little detail." He said that with a smile, so I didn't buy that he was being sympathetic with Leigh. No way. Siblings were siblings even if both wore Victorian-era clothes. Then it dawned on me: neither Lysander nor Castiel had stepped near the group since the dance had started.

"Where's Castiel?"

Lysander shrugged. "He said he needed a breather…" He bit his pencil, as if lost in thought. "Hm. Hey, Anne, do you think you can do me a favor?"

I frowned. "Sure thing." I mentally made a bet that it was finding something. How he managed to keep his head over his shoulders was a mystery.

"I think I dropped my keychain somewhere around here. I already looked, but… maybe you have a better eye."

_Called it._ "A keychain, noted. What's it like?"

"It's a book made of silver with rose petals sticking out of its pages."

_Whoa._ "Silver should be easy to find…" He gave me a look. "Er, okay, maybe not… I'll keep an eye out."

"Thank you. You're a kind soul."

_Geez. It's just finding a keychain._ "Stop, you'll make me blush." I half-joked. Lysander chuckled.

"I think I lost it near the sea…"

"…That's a very helpful hint you gave there."

I didn't have anything better to do. Plus it was an excuse to take a walk through the beach at this late hour. I loved night walks. So Lysander made his way back, saying he'd check with the others, and I walked away in the opposite direction.

_Clang._

"… Huh?"

_What's that?_

_Clang, clang._

_It sounds like a guitar string…_

The sound was growing louder as I kept walking. I followed it, turning around to check if someone was following me, but I was alone.

_Clang._

Yes, that was a guitar string.

It came from behind a rock, similar to the one I saw before with Lys. My feet met something cold, and I picked up a can of coke… no, wait, two. Two of them, still unopened. I leaned over the rock to see who was there…

And I saw Castiel sitting down, playing an acoustic guitar with his eyes closed. He wasn't singing, but he was mouthing the lyrics… or what looked to be the lyrics.

Then it hit me: it was the same song that was playing while the rest danced far away. What was the group's name…?

Stars from Nightmare. Something like that.

With a smile of my own, I brushed the can against Castiel's cheek. He jerked away with a "fuck!" and almost fell over.

"Gotcha." I sang, grinning. I thought he'd get mad, but he just smirked at me.

"Nice one, tiger. You're quick at learning from the master."

I plopped down next to him. "Is the master supposed to be you?"

"Who else?"

"I'm just saying because you'd suck at teaching."

Castiel stuck out his tongue, but didn't reply. He placed the guitar down and played with the pick between his fingers. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd be dancing or somethin'."

I shrugged. "Already danced. Just waiting for the fireworks."

Castiel mumbled something that I couldn't hear. At one part of his 'flick-the-pick' game, the pick flew off and landed near my left leg. I examined it before giving it back to him.

"Skull lover much?"

Castiel only smirked. "They're cool."

"Punk." I joked, earning a soft punch on my shoulder. I mocked a hurt face.

It was nice to see him like that.

Castiel pulled up his guitar again onto his lap. "You didn't answer."

"To what?"

"How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't, I just found you- crap." I let out, remembering why I'd left on the first place. He raised a brow at me. "Lysander asked me to find something… He said he lost it around here."

"And you forgot, didn't you?" I nodded, biting my lower lip. "Pfft. You're both a lost cause. What did he lose this time?"

"A silver keychain with a book…"

Castiel looked at me as if I was crazy. "Really?"

When I nodded, he pulled something shiny from his pocket and waved it in front of me: the keychain Lysander had described me.

"You found it?"

Castiel looked lost in thought for a couple of seconds before replying. "Yeah…"

Oh well, that was good. "I think he went to look for it."

"I'll give it to him later among a reminder for him: don't lose things again and send little girls after it in the middle of the night."

I scowled. "Watch it. I'm not a little girl."

"Really? You're short and you don't have any chest. You sure look like one."

I shoved him away and he fell on his left side. I barely had time to react when I saw him place his guitar down and pounce over where I was two seconds before. Castiel raised a brow.

"You're quick when you want to be."

I was about to reply when I saw him getting his guitar again, placing it over his lap. I remained silent, wondering if he was going to play something.

Suddenly, a booming sound startled us and the sky filled with explosions of red, yellow and green: the fireworks. My mouth remained half-open as I watched the swirl of golden, the rain of red and the palm-like shapes of the green color.

"Nice, isn't it?" Castiel said, playing with his guitar strings. "They shoot'em every summer."

Although I was enchanted with the fireworks, part of my mind was focused on the small melody Castiel was playing by my side, one that sounded familiar…

_I know that song…_

"_They tell me I'm too young to understand…"_

I mumbled, following the song. Castiel looked at me, but he didn't stop playing. Red bathed his shadow, and my white dress seemed to change colors with each firework.

"_They say I'm caught up in a dream  
Well, life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes  
Well, that's fine by me._

_So wake me up when it's all over  
when I'm wiser and I'm older  
All this time I was finding myself  
and I didn't know I was lost."_

"Not bad. Here I thought you'd suck at singing."

A yellow firework, bigger than the others we'd seen, exploded in the sky. "I'm bad when I sing louder, though…" I said.

"Just sing softer, then."

I gave him a quizzical look. Castiel kept playing while looking at the sky, but said nothing else.

_I wish that I could stay forever this young  
not afraid to close my eyes  
Life's a game made for everyone  
and love is a prize._

_So wake me up when it's all over  
when I'm wiser and I'm older  
All this time I was finding myself  
and I didn't know I was lost._

I smiled to myself while humming the lyrics. _Isn't this ironic_.

Soon, the fireworks stopped, and Castiel's music did as well. Silence filled the air, making me feel uneasy. We walked back towards where the rest were. Apparently we weren't missed at all, which was good… I thought. Rosalya did yell at me when she saw me appear out of nowhere, but when she saw that I was with Castiel, she calmed down. She and Leigh were supposed to drive me home, while Lysander had chosen to sleep over at Castiel's house or something like that. Something about "giving some privacy to the lovebirds". I cracked up when I heard the redhead grumble: "So you give them privacy but you invade my own?"

"Don't mind him. He's actually happy to have some company." Lysander whispered to me when I was saying goodbye to him. My smile widened. True friends, indeed.

Kim yelled at me that she'd call both me and Violette to go out more in summer once she came back from her vacations in Nevada. Violette looked so happy it was endearing.

I had to admit this had been one of the best days I ever had, after all.

After waving goodbye to everyone else, Leigh and Rosa drove me home before going to their place.

**-From the eyes of a passerby-**

Further away from the beach, Castiel and Lysander were walking their way to Castiel's house in silence. The redhead had his hands in his pockets and had his guitar on his back while the silver haired teen kept walking with his eyes lost in his notebook. Three whole minutes passed until Castiel shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled something out.

"This is yours, right?"

Lysander looked up at the shining keychain and smiled in recognition. "Indeed it is."

"Anne said you lost it."

"Hmm."

The lack of answer made Castiel's brows knit together. "You gave it to me when I left to play the guitar. You didn't lose it!"

"Really?" Lysander smiled, looking at his friend. "My, I probably forgot…"

Castiel scoffed. _Having friends for this…_

* * *

Further away, in the opposite direction, inside the Devay house, shouts could be heard from the outside.

A man was yelling to a woman while a hesitant shadow stayed on the outside of the house. The silhouette took a deep breath, and entered inside.

_Mirages fade, _Anne thought._ It's time to come back to the real world…_

And she stepped in.

Strong crashes were heard as a small blonde girl watched the whole scene from the upper floor. It took twenty minutes until the yelling died down, and the only things heard were the man leaving to his room and slamming the door, the redheaded woman sobbing on the sofa and the ginger breathing heavily as she sprinted upstairs, ready to lock herself on her room. She'd tried to avoid it, she'd tried to not step between them, but when she saw her father slamming the vases on the floor and her mother begging him to calm down, she'd stepped in. Big mistake.

She locked the door to her room and let herself slid down to the floor, rubbing her right arm where a rather big purple bruise was forming.

_Funny how a whole good day can get ruined in a few minutes…_ She thought, bitterly. Anne turned her phone off and let herself fall on the bed, thinking that she'd shower the next morning. She didn't want to get out of her room for the night…

When she closed her eyes, she thought about a whirl of color and music, remembering the warmth of Nathaniel's hand. She thought of Kim's big grin and Rosalya brushing her hair like during that morning, and Violette's shy smile when she showed her the drawing she'd done of Alexy before leaving.

She thought of the guitar chords and the sky exploding with colors…

And she fell asleep.

_Wake me up when it's all over…_

**-End Chapter 4-**

**Rather long A/N:** Ah, Lysander… sneaky little prick.

Going to bed like that every single day is hard for this Candy jhsdf but like I said, this story is about her pulling through… how will it go? You'll find out if you keep reading!

The lyrics Anne thinks about are from Avicii's "Wake me up". The acoustic versions are so pretty, and the lyrics fit her story a lot. Give it a listen if you want!

This chapter is so long and I just kept erasing and rewriting... Good thing I finished… part two will be shorter, and there'll be a surprise in there. –rubs hands- Seventeen pages… Jesus. I'm sorry from writing this much-!

By the way, I decided to make a little profile about the Devays so you can get to know the situation a little better and understand Anne's story a little bit, also the fire symbol is very important, and it means a lot of things. It's a bit long… I thought I owed you guys quite the description to understand them better. I warn you, I wrote a lot. But I just love to dive into a character's mind. Making up things for writing is great.

**Profiles, symbols and small notes about the Devay family:**

I made _**Anne**_ a ginger due to fire being her symbol, both for her personality and mental state. Also gingers are pretty, so I went with it. Anyways, the _fire_ symbolizes her mental state and situation, apart from being the mix Nath-Cas in here (which will develop, but that's apart from this). Thing is, Anne will grow anger issues due to her situation of feeling trapped in that house, the feeling of helplessness and more that will happen… I'm not going to write the whole plot here, come on. Just dropping that she'll have that. The fire symbolizes anger and temper, so I read. She's a Leo (July 30th).

The fire also symbolizes her mental state due to the abuse; it can burn her and trap her forever or she might be able to pull through. Who knows? That's what the story mainly is about: her struggle to pull free. By talking to some people, I've learnt that living with people like Anne's dad for so many years can leave quite the scars in your mind, and hers is running out. Of course, more things will happen for the time to run out faster, her dad being the main source. There are two more people that will change her life greatly: Nath and Cas, for better and for worse; also her other friends. Nath is like a ray of light, always good and nice, that's why she's smitten with him, while Castiel's and Anne need to get a little closer yet, but it'll happen.

So, in summary. Anne might fall victim of her own mind and end up mentally scarred, locking herself away from people; or she might be able to pull through. Hence the title: Drowning in fire. But there's also a "good" side about the fire: the warmth when she's with people she can trust.

… I really like characters with mental struggles, if you couldn't tell. The Cat Lady is one of my favourite games for a reason… If you haven't played and you like horror games with good stories, I highly recommend it.

Anne's dad, _**Arthur**_, is a sober violent, meaning he isn't drunk when he takes out his already developed anger issues on his wife and middle daughter. He controls his hand on the younger one… well, because he's sober. If not, shit would go down. He doesn't physically hit his wife; he mentally tires her out, though, by insulting her and being a disrespectful jackass. His physical anger is taken out on Anne. The fact that she's stubborn and talks back makes it worse for her. He's an Aries (April 7th).

Arthur married Lara's mother years before, who grew to think that the world was against her (paranoia, basically), and took it out on Lara and her husband. Back then, Arthur had his head over his shoulders "properly", so when Lara was eight, he divorced that woman and married Anne and Vivian's mother, who were born later on. But, like I just wrote, living in such situation for years can leave mental scars, which is Arthur's current problem. Lara knew it, saw the anger growing in him, and when she turned eighteen (Anne was ten and Vivian was two), she took her suitcases and left. Lara's mother is locked up due to her paranoia and that's it about her for now… I can say, because it's important for the story, that she was a good-named prosecutor before dropping the job.

_**Lara**_ is the older sister (she's 24), and she's Anne's main role model. She's a symbol of _strength_ for the protagonist for what she did, which is what Anne wants to do: get away from that madhole unharmed… or so it seemed. She's in a moral dilemma: her father "saved" her from her mother, but now he's turned into someone different and she knows he's hurting her little sisters and their mother, who'd been like a real mother to her, but she can't do anything. She gives her support to Anne because she went through the same thing alone, after all. She lives away in her own flat she managed to pay thanks to Auntie Rose and visits her family from time to time. She's a Libra (Oct. 10th).

Then we have _**Vivian**_, the eight year old "calming presence". It's not the older sister protecting the younger… well, kind of, but it's also the other way around: Vivian helps Anne by being there: she's a "positive" presence in the house, so it's a reason of why Anne can be a little overprotective with her sometimes. If she lost Vivian, she'd lose the only good thing in the house. Quiet and shy with new people due to "manners" her mother taught her, but she warms up to people quickly. For her, seeing her father angry to that point is growing to be normal for her as time passes by. She is an Aquarius (February 9th).

_**Lynne**_ is the mother of Anne and Vivian, and Arthur's current wife. Like Lara, she's in a moral dilemma… or she should be. I don't want to tell much about her, because there's an important part that has yet to be revealed in the story, but I'll tell what I can. She's a "proper" and gentle lady and works as a vet in Sweet Amoris. Anne thinks she doesn't confront her husband because of fear, but there's more to it. She's Aunt Rose's (our Candy's "fairy" aunt) sister, and they're completely opposites. They don't get along anymore after an argument they had after Lara left the house. Lynne is a Virgo (Sept. 19th).

And that's it about the profiles. Literal madhouse –bricked-. I hope you guys keep reading. Send me PM if you want to ask anything. Review as well, please! It'd be appreciated!

Read you around!

_-Mond_


	6. Chapter 5: Summer Sun, part 2

**A/N:** I'm in time for this one. I've had six exams in three days during this week, so it was hard to find a bit of time. Luckily, I got punched in the face by my dear writing muse, so as soon as I found a break I started and didn't stop.

Anyways, here's part two! It's shorter than the last, but I liked how it went. There's only one part of the summer arc left. Aaah, and to all who reviewed up to this day, thanks so much ;v; they help me to keep going with this story! Please keep doing so. Criticism is appreciated, and any grammar slips I've had, send me a PM to correct it (you're probably fed up with this phrase, I'm sorry- I'm so unsure about how I'm writing in English sometimes). Also, even if you don't say anything but you're still reading, thank you tons for sticking with me. Have a cat-shaped cookie!

I still haven't found the correct time to write in Nath's point of view, but I'll do it. Darn, he's harder to crack than I thought. The start of this chapter is a bit sour, but it changes as it progresses… and I tried to get Castiel as in-character as I could.

Let's dive! I hope you enjoy it and review!

_-Mond_

**Disclaimer:** Amour Sucré in all languages belong to ChiNoMiko. The Devays are mine.

* * *

**Chapter 5:** Summer Sun (Part 2:_ The path we walk not always leads to where we want_)

**-From the eyes of Anne Devay-**

I let myself sink further in the bathtub, rubbing my right arm softly. The bubbles covered the whole surface. The water was warm, the whole bathroom was filled with steam and the house was in complete silence with the exception of the faint sound of the living room television and Vivian's laugh on the first floor. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by warm water.

None ever understood how I could take hot baths (or showers) in the middle of summer. Neither did I, but I just loathed taking cold showers. It didn't matter if we were at the end of July. Besides, it was a good stress reliever, and God knew I could use that from time to time with all the days I was spending inside the house lately. I'd turned off my phone and disconnected from the world since the party, more than two weeks ago.

_Don't cling to illusions. Those only bring problems,_ said the Jiminy Cricket voice inside my head (which I hated so much sometimes). I shook my head with a sigh. What was wrong with believing my life was formed by a happy family and friends I could trust?

_Everything's wrong with living in la-la-land. Don't get carried away. _

I sank lower, half of my head already underwater.

_Ah boy, I'm screwed…_ I thought.

When I went downstairs, feeling a bit fresher and less heavy, Vivian was still immersed in her favourite show: Adventure Time. I took out a couple of chocolate bars from the "forbidden cabinet" and passed one to her. The sky was getting that orange-ish tint I loved with some shades of pink as well.

Our parents were still working. This was their last week, but our mother was in a rush trying to get a new assistant to help her. She was planning to keep working during August (during less hours) to "keep herself occupied", but for that, she needed a hand. Our father didn't show any interest as long as it didn't ruin her job, so it went… smoothly. Sort of.

Spending the days alone with Vivian was kind of relaxing.

We ordered pizza for dinner (I was too lazy to cook something that had a 70% chance of being edible) and we scarfed it down pretty quickly.

"Can you hear the crickets?" Vivian asked me. I nodded. It sounded like a nice night to take a stroll… I hadn't gone out for two weeks now. Perhaps it was a good chance to stretch my legs properly, but I couldn't leave Vivian alone in the house at night.

Also I had to take Rosalya's dress back to her. Gah.

Just when we finished cleaning, we heard a car parking outside in the garage. I peeked from inside the house through the window: our father's car.

I made a run for my room before he could walk inside the house. The tension had been too thick between us since the last fight: he was always looking at me with a mix of disgust, annoyance and anger. I didn't know how much I could take, so avoidance had grown to be the better option.

Well, at least now I could sneak out…

I changed myself into a pair of black jeans and black spiked short boots. The night air wasn't too chilly, so I put on a thin crimson shirt that showed my shoulders and grabbed my black Nightwish leather jacket. Just in case.

… Good God, I sounded like a grandmother.

I turned off the light and locked the door to my room. It wasn't necessary, since none ever came in until the morning and when I didn't answer they assumed I'd fallen asleep with my headphones on, but I did it anyways. Just as I'd done many nights before, I stepped outside the window and made my way down the tree. The branches were strong enough to support my weight, and with time I'd gotten the trick of climbing up and down pretty well. Practice made perfect, they said. Except when I slipped when I was almost on the lower part…

Stuffing my hands into my jean pockets, I made my way down the deserted road, following the streetlamps, and without any destination in mind. I didn't even grab my phone, let alone my headphones.

Most shops were closed except for some cafés and restaurants, and the oh-so-famous WcDonald's drive-through. Some houses had music blasting from inside along with the lights continuously going on and off, and those were usually accompanied with badly-parked cars with making-out teenagers inside and outside of them.

Sure, I'd gone to my share of them back in my old city. It was just getting lost for a simple momentum in a mix of blasting music, alcohol and hormones. Nothing I didn't know already. It was during those parties when I got asked out. Counting, I'd been asked out by exactly six guys in six different parties at my old city during my sixteen years of life there. Only one of them seemed to have interest in actually "knowing" me (I mean with my clothes on, come on, I saw from far away what the other five wanted) and that was the only one I'd given my number to, but he never called. I couldn't even remember his name by this point.

I slipped the jacket on, feeling the air getting colder. I hadn't even brought a watch with me, so I didn't know the time. Probably almost midnight, by the looks of it. Since I didn't want any rumours, I ended up putting the hood on with part of my hair slipping out from one side of my neck. I didn't care if I looked like a delinquent or something.

The park was empty as I'd imagined. I walked towards the swings, which were eerily still, and sat on one, feeling my hands getting colder when I grabbed the metal chains holding the swings in place.

Getting lost in my own head wasn't good, but I couldn't help it. In the back of my mind I could remember every single day we spent at the park in our old city, when things still were… or at least looked, normal for me. I saw a smiling father, hearing the call of his daughter who couldn't swing herself, and leaving the rest of the family to give her a little push. And then another, and another, while she laughed.

My vision had gotten blurry. A cold drop fell onto my hands, which now were on my lap.

Why couldn't things be like before?

How had things come to that…?

"Fuck…" I rubbed my eyes with the end of my jacket, feeling them itching slightly. My breath was shaky, too.

Something licked my hand.

… Wait, what? Licked?

I peeked through my fingers and saw that it was… a Belgian shepherd, slowly moving his tail from side to side with his ears drooped and poking my hands with his nose. I wiped my eyes again.

"… And where did you come from, big guy?"

I slowly raised my hand over his head, and he licked it. I'd seen German shepherds and all those considered "dangerous races" in my mom's vet clinic, and I knew that it didn't matter which race a dog was: what mattered was the owner. A Chihuahua could bite your nose off as well as a Bulldog if the owner was a total ass and had trained them to do so, and if they were well taken care of, they'd be the sweetest and most playful things someone could find. This not-so-little guy was being rather docile. I petted his head, the soft fur being nice to the touch. He didn't growl, and I took it as a good signal.

Someone shouted from far away.

"Demon!"

I jumped in surprise at the shout. The dog ran away as if chased by a demon itself to the middle of the park and into the bushes surrounding a medium-sized fountain, wagging his tail.

A shadow emerged at my left, holding a leash. The silhouette looked like a man's, probably the owner…

Then, when the light hit his face and I was able to see him, I almost fell off the swing in surprise.

Keimar.

"Out of all people…" I whispered, and then almost smacked myself in the face for talking loudly. Castiel seemed to have heard me, for he turned towards me.

"Hey, girl, have you seen a dog running around here?"

… What? He didn't recognize me?

Oh, right. I had the hood on. He probably just heard me mutter something, too.

As an answer, I raised my arm and pointed towards the bushes in the middle of the park. Castiel didn't even say "thanks"; he just walked towards it without a second glance in my direction. Typical. I held back a snort.

It got harder to hold when I saw the so-called Demon (a kind of name Castiel would choose, now that I thought about it) dash away from the bushes when Castiel got closer, leaving him dumbfounded on the spot.

"Stupid dog... Demon, come back! DEMON!"

As I was watching the spectacle, something pushed me from behind, making me lose my balance on the swing and fall right onto my face. A happy bark told me who the culprit was before I could even turn around.

"Demon! What the hell are you doing?!" While trying to get myself up, I felt a familiar hand grab my arm and pull me up. My hood fell with the sudden motion. When I looked up, I saw Castiel frowning at me, mouth slightly agape.

"What the hell…? What are you doing out here?"

Well, I wasn't expecting a "oh hey, been a few days", but still… Who was I kidding? This was Castiel Keimar we were talking about.

"Same as you, just with no dog." My voice cracked slightly and I quickly cleared my throat. Good thing it was dark. I grew more conscious of his grip in my arm.

"Are you crazy? Sitting alone in the park at almost one in the morning?!" I winced as his voice rose. The last thing I needed was to be yelled at. My eyes grew hotter once again and my vision blurry, unable to control the wreck of emotions. I couldn't even get angry. I dropped my head, my shoulders fell, and Demon whined at my side. Castiel looked at his dog in surprise, then back at me.

"… Wait, are you crying?"

_Oh, fuck me. Don't tell me I'm really doing this in front of him._

"N-no, I'm not…" But my stinging eyes and tears tickling my cheeks said otherwise. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, damn, crap. _I felt my chest tightening and my breath shaking. Demon whined again at my side.

I lowered my head even more, feeling Castiel still holding my left arm.

"Just… leave me alone."

He didn't say anything, but he let go of my arm. I wanted to move away, but my body didn't obey my orders. Giving in, I looked up, sniffing. I wiped my eyes. Why wasn't he walking away? I was sure he'd do that, clicking his tongue and mumbling something like "girls are crybabies".

But he was still there, not saying anything, but not walking away either. Neither was I.

The air felt colder.

"Why… aren't you... leaving?" My voice sounded raspy now, great.

"I don't know." That sounded like a whisper, but I heard it.

I snapped my head up, mouth agape. His brows were knitted together, his grey eyes looked even darker and his lips were pressed in an expression of… concern?

… Was I on drugs?

No, my eyes were probably playing tricks on me.

I closed them.

_This will only bring you trouble._

Shut up.

_You'll leave this place sooner or later without leaving any notice, just like you did in your old city. Ken got so mad when he heard you were leaving the very next day, remember?_ _Leaving your friends behind like that, changing your number and everything… it's like a stab on the back. You did it before, you'll do it again. Erase and start over. It was nice that your mother got the job here, wasn't it? Saved you a few years with them. Now it's the same, just for less time._

Shut up!

_You see people now as merely part of the background of your life. Imagine Rosa's and Kim's face when you leave right after you graduate. One day you're there with them, and the next you're not. Nathaniel, too, and Violette._

_You'll do like Lara did. Isn't that the price to pay to escape from your father? Erase and start over. Start elsewhere, far away, taking Vivian with you. She's enough, remember?_

I said shut up!

_Don't get too attached to people. It'll only bring you trouble when parting. You can imagine it'll be like that forever, but it'll remain like that: a simple mirage._

Then I'll take the mirage for a little while.

"Anne."

My eyes snapped back at Castiel. My stomach twisted and growled. I looked elsewhere.

"What…?" I asked. God, it was heavy to talk now, even. Demon whined even louder.

"Are you okay?"

Gee. He wasn't good at consoling, I'd give him that. A small laugh escaped me at his shot. I wiped my eyes again.

"Could be better…"

"It… wasn't me, right? When I yelled at you…"

Yet another thing that took me by surprise.

Was he worried that he was the cause…?

I quickly shook my head, breathing heavily. "No, n-no… it wasn't you. Don't worry about that." To my surprise (again), he let out a breath… of relief?

Now it was my turn to frown.

"Then what is it? Did someone hurt you?" His voice sounded a bit harsh at the last part. I couldn't bring myself to answer. His body tensed. "Who?"

"What?"

"Who the hell was it?"

His tone was different; it reminded me of whenever he was "talking" with Nathaniel, or with that guy in the beach back then.

"N-none hurt me, calm down." I raised my hands. He had short patience, like me sometimes, that far I could tell. Why he looked so angry, though, I couldn't understand. "I'm fine." I wasn't crying anymore, so that should count.

It looked as if he'd snapped out of some sort of trance: his brow furrowed and he crossed his arms across his chest, letting out a sigh. Demon sat by his side, nudging his leg. "It's obvious that you're not. What happened?"

Now it was my turn to sigh. Why was he acting like that? "It's… complicated." My eyes landed on Demon, who was finally getting some petting he'd been asking for. I tried to change the topic. "Is he yours?"

Castiel got his usual smirk back in place for a second. "Yeah, Demon. I told you about him, remember?"

Oh right, he did. "He's pretty docile," I glanced at Castiel, feeling a small smirk of my own making its way to my lips, "unlike the owner."

However, he didn't reply back. Castiel kneeled down on the grass to be at Demon's level. I imitated him. "He doesn't like anyone. I'm surprised he went straight to you, actually." As if on cue, Demon immediately started nudging my stomach, making me laugh.

"That tickles, damn it!" Demon barked happily when I scratched him behind the ears. Castiel had a smile in his face until Demon suddenly turned around and pounced on him, pinning him down.

"Oof! Demon, get off me!" Now that was something I'd give Peggy for her newspaper… but I valued my life. And I didn't have my cellphone to record this, anyway. I leaned over to grab a random stick of many that were scattered around and got Demon's attention. Then, I threw it as far as I could, successfully getting the big dog off the mess of a redhead on the grass. Some leaves had gotten attached to Castiel's hair, to boot.

I snorted. My eyes still felt itchy, but I felt lighter.

"What?"

"You have some leaves…" I gestured towards his hair, but he got the wrong side. I rolled my eyes. "Come here."

He seemed to hesitate, but after whatever mental struggle he seemed to have, he leaned his head down so I could reach his hair properly. It felt soft, nice to the touch…

I liked it…

"You done, tiger?"

Oh boy, he was smirking at me. _Shit._ I jerked my hand back as if his head had set on fire. "Uh… yeah."

He remained silent for a few seconds. "You…"

A loud whine interrupted him made us both look down: Demon, again. But something seemed off.

"Demon, boy, what's wrong?" Castiel had noticed too, and then I saw it: Demon was lifting one of his front paws, the left one. Castiel tried to touch it, but the moment he brushed the dog's paw, he let out a loud yelp that went followed by a growl.

"What the hell?"

"It's swollen."

Castiel turned around to face me. "What?"

"Demon's paw, it's swollen." I pointed towards it. I'd seen it several times, so I knew what it was. "Looks like he stung himself with something… probably got a thorn or a piece of glass stuck in his paw, since this is a public park."

Castiel blinked, probably wasn't expecting that. "Right… and what do I do?"

I turned around to face him. "Easy," and I added, with a small smile: "take him to the vet."

* * *

I wondered if my mother was still working at this late hour. She sometimes had late shifts, and now more than ever because she was interviewing a lot of people.

So that's how I found myself down the way with Castiel, followed by a limping Belgian shepherd. We didn't say anything on our way there. I tightened my jacket around my body, feeling the urge to put my hood on.

"You're good at changing topics."

The sudden comment made me look at him. "…Really?"

He smirked. "Yeah. But I'm glad if it takes that to make you feel better."

… I was definitely on drugs.

But he looked like he was being honest. And that, I don't know why, made me get goose bumps. We were looking at each other while walking… and almost got my head smacked into a lamp post because of it. Good thing I stopped in time. I saw his shoulders shake as he laughed right in my face.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

Then I noticed: his hand was extended towards me.

I looked at his hand, then at him. His hand. Back to Castiel. I raised a brow.

"Come on. We'll get there faster if we avoid you from eating each lamp post in the road."

"I never bumped into one, just so you know." I replied, but took his hand nevertheless. The very moment I did, he turned away from me and started walking.

His hand felt cold, but my face sure wasn't. He sped up his pace to the point that I almost had to run behind him. I couldn't see his face, and somewhat that felt frustrating. Demon apparently had no problem even if he had to limp. Soon enough, we reached the building I had in mind, and I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that the lights were still on.

"She's still here."

"I still can't believe your mother's the city's new vet."

I ignored him. Castiel let go of my hand as I ran to the door, pushing it open. The counter was empty, and I was hearing… loud voices? From the back room? Two female voices, in fact. I noticed that Castiel was right at my side with Demon behind him, licking his paw.

"… This sure sounds like a lively place." He commented, eyeing the door to the room where the loud voices were coming from.

"Mom?" I called. "Are you here?"

The voices died down and the door swung open. My mother stepped out, looking slightly annoyed. Following her was…

"Aunt Rose?!"

What the hell was going on?

The door to the back room opened once again.

"Miss Lynne, I'm sorry, but I really have to go back soon."

And I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Ah, Nathaniel, just in time." My mother said. My jaw fell as my mother gestured to the "newcomer".

Castiel tensed up, alert like a cat about to jump over a mouse.

"Anne, turns out I found a new temporary assistant to my clinic." My mother beamed. Nathaniel was looking at us, wide eyed.

_Don't tell me the new assistant is..._

"What are you doing here?" He asked to us (although he was looking at me). My mother looked at him.

_Oh man, he doesn't know she's my mother..._

"Oh, you know each other?"

"Yes, we do." Castiel hissed between gritted teeth.

Oh, boy.

Fate sure liked to throw me into problems with those two...

**-End Chapter 5-**

**A/N:** I bet you weren't expecting Nath to be the assistant of Anne's mother. Heheh~. If you did, you deserve Layton's hat.

More to come in the next chapter, which will be the last of the summer arc. Cas is starting to realize something, what can that be? /whistles/

Also let me explain: Miss Rose was there because she finally decided to talk to her sister, that is it. Some development within the family. Anne's mother isnMt surprised to see her outside at those hours. A mother knows... But doesn't ask in public. She does in private though. Like I said: more to come in the next chapter!

Read you around!

-_Mond_


	7. Chapter 6: Summer Sun, part 3

**A/N: **So… episode 21 has been released in Amour Sucré. For a week now. I'm still screaming, please don't mind me. I won't write anything about it because I don't want to spoil a thing. I saw by accident all the illustrations… blame my dash in tumblr. But they were so pretty I couldn't even get mad. Instead now I'm more impatient to PLAY IT –insert squealing here- Spanish translation team, please, I'm begging you here… I'm going to die with the wait.

Uh, I'll shut up… yes, the chapter. This one's a bit longer, but not as long as the first one of the summer saga. This one's the last, so let's get down to business! You know the typical message, constructive criticism is appreciated, and any grammar mistake you spot, please PM me about it and I'll run to fix it.

Dedicated to Donnie, who loves fluff and has to deal with me when I'm texting her all my fic ideas or screaming at her through the phone about My Candy Love.

_-Mond_

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Amour Sucré or any of their characters, yaaaadda yadda yadda.

* * *

**Chapter 6: **Summer Sun (Part 3: _Bad luck, good luck)_

**-From the eyes of Anne Devay-**

I didn't know where to look.

The tension was suffocating. If it wasn't for the disastrous outcome this situation could have, I'd have laughed my ass off on the spot.

Nathaniel was glaring at the very person who'd entered with me into the vet clinic, who in return was openly glaring back at him with clenched fists and gritted teeth. Castiel wasn't holding back, either. If looks could kill, both would be long dead by now.

My aunt was the first one who broke the silence. "I should leave," she muttered, heading towards the door and squeezing her way out between us. I couldn't see her face as she gave me one last pat on the shoulder. Shooting a last glance at my mother, she added: "Call me if you ever change your mind, Lynne." With that, she was gone, leaving us reduced to four inside the small vet clinic.

My mother sighed, turning her attention back to Nathaniel. If I hadn't known any better, I'd have thought she was ignoring her sister's comment. "I should've realized you were too young to be looking for a partial job," she said, looking at Nathaniel, "you probably go to my daughter's school."

Nathaniel gaped, looking once at my mother and then at me, probably realizing how alike we were… at least in some physical features.

"We're classmates, actually." I muttered, feeling a bit small between all of them.

"Really? Oh dear, he's a brilliant lad. Maybe you can take up a bit of him." She added with a small smile. I let out a gruff at her "joke", it wasn't the first and I was sure it wouldn't be the last. "I'm sure he'll make a good assistant for a while."

A frown found its way to my face, wondering why in the world would Nathaniel need to work in a vet. "I didn't know you needed a job."

"Ah… it was my father's idea to work a bit on vacation." He shrugged, smiling sheepishly all of a sudden. Castiel crossed his arms over his chest, now simply scowling. "He thought it'd help me to do something… useful."

It seemed so like Nathaniel to find something to do during free time even in vacation that I just nodded, understanding. It was then when the smartass at my side decided to open his mouth, bringing the tension back to a high level.

"Here I thought you couldn't be more stuck-up than you already were," a smirk appeared the very moment he started speaking, and the scowl this time was on Nathaniel's face.

"Watch it, Keimar." He hissed.

My mother chimed in, noticing how things weren't exactly going smoothly. She didn't want a fight to break in inside her place and neither did I, to be honest. I'd had enough in the High School. "You two also know each other as well, right?" Her eyes landed on me, probably realizing I'd entered in her clinic at one in the morning accompanied by a man. Guy. Jerk. Whatever floats your boat. I gulped, feeling my mouth dry.

"Um, yeah… they're classmates." I cocked my head towards Castiel as well, "Both of them."

She nodded and fell silent, leaving me wondering when she was going to drop the deadly question. However, it never came, making me grow more conscious of the silence around us.

This time, Castiel broke it.

"I'm leaving."

My head snapped towards him. "Wait, what? Why?"

"The reason is obvious," with a smirk, he cocked his head towards Nathaniel without even looking at him and walked towards the door, opening it with a creak. A chilly breeze entered inside the room, making me shiver.

Or were his eyes what made me shiver like that…?

_Gah, no._ I shook my head, my copper hair falling forward and tickling my cheeks. No way, he was _barely_ a friend, even if he'd helped me before. He was too confusing: you never knew what he was thinking or how he'd react to anything. I'd learnt that first-hand during my first months in Sweet Amoris High. I knew nothing about him, the same way he barely knew anything about me.

I watched in silence his attempts to call Demon over, but the dog just lied down with his head on his paws and didn't move. An annoyed growl escaped out of the redhead.

I raised a brow. "Did you forget why we brought him here?"

A huff. "No, but I'm not letting _him_ touch my dog." At the "him" he motioned with his head again towards Nathaniel's direction, who was now merely amused at Castiel's struggle. My mother decided to jump in at the right moment.

"So you brought me job to do?"

I nodded, ignoring Castiel's "_shut the hell up"_ look. "Yeah, Demon's got something stuck in his paw. Can you check it out?"

After the frown at the name (yes mom, his name's Demon), she kneeled down near the whining animal and gently lifted Demon's left paw. The dog didn't growl or yelp like he did when Castiel tried to do the same thing a while ago. "It's pretty swollen." My mother muttered. "I see… he's got a small shard of glass stuck in his paw. Poor boy. It might get infected if he doesn't get proper treatment soon."

I glanced towards Castiel, who sighed and walked slowly inside the clinic again.

"I don't want him to touch my dog," Castiel repeated.

Nathaniel grimaced and I closed my eyes, rubbing the bridge of my nose. My mother shook her head.

"He can't." Then, she added: "It's not even his first day and he's got a few journeys of just watching before starting. Now, if you don't mind, bring the dog to the background. I'd lift him myself, but I usually let the owners do the job."

It was a little vengeance for the "personal reasons" issue brought into her clinic. She never liked when personal issues were brought into any kind of business. Nathaniel watched from a distance while I leaned backwards on one of the walls, away from any utensils. Soon enough, after making sure that Nathaniel just watched, Castiel leaned backwards as well right by me.

"What's bothering you?" I asked. By his scoff, I got that he wasn't about to tell anything.

"Many things." Well, that was vague.

"Like what?"

"You. Every single time you're around, it causes me problems. And now I have to deal with the blonde prick." He muttered without looking at me. My blood froze in my veins at the hard comment. "You bring me bad luck." And then it started to boil. What was with that attitude all of a sudden?

I did my best to keep my voice down. The words slipped from my tongue before I could stop them: "Why don't you just stay away from me, then?"

He didn't answer. His words had _stung_, and I'd just been childish enough to act the same way. As all reply, he walked away from me and plopped down on a chair.

The next few minutes passed like a blur as my tiredness grew. After my mom was done and made sure Demon's paw wouldn't get infected, she admitted with a smile that the "pup" looked well taken care of. With a low "thanks" and a cordial small smile of his (all to my mother, because that sure wasn't for Nath), Castiel left the clinic without a goodbye and without even looking at me again, with a happier Demon limping behind him.

The moment he left I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Someone snapped their fingers in front of me. I'd been staring at the door.

"Falling asleep?" Nathaniel smiled down at me. I gave him a tired smile of my own and a nod.

"Yeah…" My eyes itched a bit. I was glad they weren't red anymore. I rubbed them, stifling a yawn.

"It's been a while."

"Yeah…"

He looked at me funny, tilting his head to the side. "Are you going to answer with monosyllables from now on?"

"Yeah…" I frowned. _Wait a goddamn second_. "No, wait, I mean… Argh. No. Sorry, I'm a bit sleepy." Great, he probably thought I was being stupid. When I looked at him, however, he was simply smiling amusedly at me.

"I can see that." He spoke softly. I lowered my head, feeling all my blood go up straight up to my face. Both at how soft his voice sounded and at how close he was.

My mother walked in, turning off the remaining lights and shoving us outside as she closed and locked the place. We sat in a stone bench and talked for a bit, mostly to distract myself. He didn't ask me about Castiel, which was… rare. We kept going until I got called away. Nathaniel had to leave to his home anyway, and my mother wanted to drive me home. _Questioning time_, I thought in my head. And I wasn't wrong.

"So, tell me." I knew it was coming the very moment she spoke those words. "Care to tell me what were you doing outside at this hour with a boy?"

"Taking a walk." I quickly replied. Her eyebrows rose as she expected me to laugh at any moment, but I didn't. "It's the truth." And it was.

"Okay, fine, I believe you. You're lucky you don't smell of alcohol or cigarettes." I rolled my eyes at that.

"'course not." I never got caught in the past, anyway. Nothing a change of clothes and some perfume couldn't fix. About the alcohol, I mean. I'd never smoked. "By the way, what did Aunt Rose want?"

Her lips pressed into a thin line as she pondered if to tell me or not. "To talk to me… but that's a private matter between your aunt and me." She probably knew that I'd met her already. The road was empty, so my mother sped up. The streetlights formed a line of shining yellow as we drove by. I was growing frustrated with the whole issue between them. Maybe Aunt Rose would tell me if I asked…

"… You'll call her, right?"

I knew how much Aunt Rose wanted to talk with my mother again. Maybe I could push things a bit from this side…

My mom sighed, blowing off some red strands of hair away from her face. The ponytail she wore to work most of the time was a mess: strands of red hair were sticking out in every direction, probably due to stress.

"We'll see about that…"

* * *

The next few days passed by rather quickly after I turned on my phone again and got two weeks old texts from Rosalya going from "where are u" to "Y TH HELL ARENT U PICKING UP TH PHONE" in caps. Kim had sent her share of messages too after coming back from Nevada, and the last one who had my number, Violette, barely texted at all, so my inbox was full of messages from those two. I also had a few more asking if they'd gotten the wrong number (because I didn't answer), and it turned out that it was Alexy. I cleared out that I was fine and that I just got a little break "with the family" (a little white lie that worked). My mother kept telling me about Nathaniel during every dinner we shared, and apparently he was doing a good job at being her assistant.

But summer was growing monotonous for me, with the small exception of my birthday at the end of July. I got calls from Aunt Rose and Lara, both saying they had something for me. Lara mailed a package that contained a bunch of New York sweets and a CD from an amateur group that had become popular in there. I recognized it. It was Melody's favourite: Stars from Nightmare. The singer had a good voice, I had to admit, but most of the songs sounded pretty repetitive. My aunt gave me one hundred bucks (my eyes almost went out of their sockets) and she gave me a hint that she was working on a dress for me. At the end of the day, I got a strawberry and chocolate cake from my mother, which I ate later with Viv. We were suckers for sweets.

When August arrived, to avoid my father's vacation days at home, I took up all the offers to go out the girls threw at me, or I used the excuse of bringing Vivian with me to the vet clinic to visit mom and spend the day with Nath, even if he only had eyes for his work at the moment. Sometimes he even brought text books to check up and "be prepared for the beginning of the next course". I almost smacked him in the head with them one day. If he got his nose into them a little more he'd end up being sucked in, I swear. He tried to pull off jokes from time to time, but he still had a looong way to go.

I didn't go back to the park since that night. In the back of my mind, I wanted to avoid Castiel as much as possible. I wasn't scared of him (there goes my ego), but there was _something else_ that froze me in place, and then made my blood boil. I didn't know what it was; it was just so confusing to deal with him and I wasn't sure how things could end if we met again. Sure, we'd gotten along, but the little times we've actually spoken didn't lead anywhere else.

_Maybe I should just ignore him for the time being. It's not like I'll last here, anyways._

Too bad that whenever I planned something like that, bad luck seemed to get in my way and laugh in my face.

It was around the middle of August, when there were around two weeks of summer vacation left, when I found out how confusing Castiel Keimar could _really_ be. It was also one of the few days my father had gone out to check in his office and my mother had left with Vivian to work once again. Viv seemed to go there a lot now that Nathaniel was there as mom's assistant, but knowing how she went after Leigh and Lysander due to their "prince-like" looks… Let's just say I saw it coming.

I was lazily zapping through channels and seriously considering taking out my electronic keyboard to pass the time. Morning just wasn't made to watch TV. I'd just thrown the remote away onto the other side of the sofa when my phone vibrated in my pockets. The screen flickered, showing a number I hadn't seen before.

I flipped the green icon through the screen with my thumb. "Hello?"

"Oh, thank goodness you answered." That voice sounded familiar, but it couldn't be… He didn't have my number in the first place.

"Lysander? Is that you?"

I heard a sigh on the other line. "Yes. Sorry, I hope I didn't bother or scare you."

_Always so formal._ Yep, that was Lysander. "Eh, no." I was confused to say the least but if it was Lysander he sure had a good reason to call me out of the blue. "Is something wrong?"

I heard another voice, a female one, yelling in the background. "Sorry, Anne! My phone died out and we had to use Lys'!"

Oh. Rosalya. That explained the number thing. Lysander kept talking as if Rosalya hadn't spoken at all. "Actually, yes… I feel bad from asking you so suddenly, but-"

There were some struggling noises through the phone and suddenly it wasn't Lysander the one talking to me anymore. "Look, Annie, we're having quite the big problem here and you might have the solution to this."

After an "Ask nicely, Rosa!" from Lysander, I waited exactly _three_ seconds. "Okaaaay…" I drawled out. "What is it?"

"I just have to know if you're alone at home right now. Oh, and if your parents will be out until late, like, around nine or so."

I raised a brow. Just what on Earth was she planning? "I'm afraid if you'd like me to cooperate you'll have to spill more information."

"Alright, fine. Lys and I had the sudden idea of preparing a small birthday party… Well, it's not a party at all. Just a hang-out day with a few of us. We literally thought of it just twenty minutes ago. It's just to cheer someone up. You see, most of his friends are out of reach and his parents can't come from traveling, so we thought we could hang out the whole day. With pizza, movies and… something else. Karaoke too, maybe. It's his birthday after all."

"And what I'm supposed to do? Bring the snacks?"

Rosa scoffed. "Very funny. Thing is: we need a place. Leigh's busy working at home so we can't use Lys' house, and my parents are at home, so we can't do it there either." I could almost see Rosa biting her lower lip, an habit she had when things were piling up on her. "We were going to invite you once we got it settled, but we got a bad start, as you can see."

"Wait…" I let the information sink in… and then realized what she needed. "You want to use my house for a birthday party?"

"Pleaaaaaase?" Good God, that sure was high-pitched. I held back my laugh. I'd seen Rosalya use that tone with Leigh a few times and couldn't believe she was using it on me. "Please? We're doing it for a good cause! We'll be only four people!" I heard an exasperated sigh from Lysander.

"Rosa, that's not how you ask someone for help."

"Well, you got any other options? I knew you'd just beat around the bush for twenty minutes, so I just sped up the process." As they started discussing, I let myself get lost in thought: only four people, and if things didn't go past nine then my father wouldn't have to meet them. I was sure mom wouldn't mind in the case she got here sooner.

"Rosa." I got her attention again, breaking her from her discussion with Lysander. "Whose birthday it is?"

"Oh, right. It's Castiel's."

… _Are you kidding me?_

"Rosa…" My voice had gone softer. "I'm not sure if this is a good idea…"

"Why not?"

I sighed. "I don't think he's too fond of me."

"Oh." A pause. "But I thought you two got along."

"We did… but… Shit, I don't know. He's not easy to deal with, you know? One day he's being strangely nice and the next he's laughing at your face, then to put the icing on the cake he gets angry at you for no reason-… Oh man."

Crap. I'd just rambled on.

"Okay Anne, breathe." Rosalya chuckled. "Listen: that's Castiel for you. He fires up easily, but whatever he said to you, he probably didn't mean it. He does it to Lysander all the time."

I heard a "hmhmm" and a "she's right".

"This is why we wanted to throw the whole party thing. He lives alone and his parents are especially busy during this vocational period, so they barely come see him."

_He lives alone?_

Rosa continued. "He's also gone through a rough patch since a year ago, so… well, maybe we could make this birthday a better one than the last. At least that's what Lys has in mind. And I joined, because you know how much I love to organize these things. But we just can't find a place." I heard a click of a tongue. Pinching my nose, I let myself fall backwards on the couch, legs hanging off the armrest. So he lived alone, no parents for a visit, plus a rough patch? I'd just gone from knowing nothing to know quite a bit.

If I'd said no, everything would've ended in a different way months later. If I'd said no, nothing would've gone the way it went. If I'd said no, I'd never have taken the first step and I'd never have gotten closer to him.

We'd have remained as classmates, back to square one.

"Ah, fuck it." I mumbled, giving in. Even if he was around, I wouldn't be alone if Lysander and Rosa were here as well. "The house is free until nine, but I'm warning you: I'm not sure that this will turn out well."

And with that, fate laughed in my face. But I didn't know squat about it back then.

_I feel as I'm playing with fire._

* * *

Rosa and Lysander arrived around ten minutes later after being dropped off by Leigh (who left in a hurry) right in front of my house, carrying plastic bags filled with food and… horror movies.

"Castiel's favourite ones!" Rosalya chimed as she decorated the upper part of the living room with a black and white mix of letters that read: "happy birthday!"

I placed down the "The Ring" DVD atop of the coffee table, now filled with bags of chips. She'd even brought chocolate. I wasn't really fond of horror movies. "So… we're only four?"

"If we count the birthday man, yes. He doesn't like being in big groups for long, like me." I heard Lysander say as he walked out of my kitchen.

I remembered the beach party, more than a month ago now, when he sneaked out to play his guitar by himself. The question slipped out before I could stop it. This mouth of mine would end up getting me in trouble. "How do you deal with him?"

Lysander tilted his head to the side, making his bangs swing a bit. He sure had a curious hairstyle. With a smile and a friendly glint in his eyes, he said: "It's easy. I just have to be patient."

I grumbled. "Patience isn't my strong point." _Most of the time_.

"Yet it's the best of virtues and the easiest to train." I rolled my eyes as a reply.

"Sure it is." I looked around. The house looked slightly livelier with the party decorations. "So what's the plan? He doesn't know where I live in the first place. And it's not like you can tell him you're throwing a surprise party."

"Actually we need someone who won't raise any suspicion."

"What do you mean by that?"

Rosa's yellow eyes shone mischievously. "I'm talking about you, silly."

I waited for her to laugh and say that it was a joke. Buuuut she didn't. "You're kidding. What part of 'this might not end well' didn't you understand? I already told you! I'm even having doubts about this whole thing being held in my house."

"You can't back up now!"

"I'm not backing up!" Frustration was growing within me until Lysander's soft voice reached my ears.

"I think it's better if you do it, honestly."

_Oh for fuck's sake-_

"Ugh." My shoulders hunched. "Why?"

But Lysander just nodded at me, a small smile always present in his face. "Trust me, this will go well. Castiel just lacks some social skills."

Wasn't that _just_ reassuring. Wasn't exactly this what he said when we met, too?

We heard a harp-like sound. Lysander's brows furrowed as he searched for something in his pockets, and he took out his phone. Black, thin and with some swirling patterns engraved on the back. A true Lysphone.

"He's at the park already." His smile grew wider. "I think this is your cue, Anne."

"If I don't come back alive, please avenge my death." Rosalya shoved off my joke and also shoved me through _my own_ door after telling me that I should text Lysander once I'd managed to (somehow) bring Castiel over. For the sake of it, she kept his phone, just in case he lost it inside my house.

And so there I was: on my way to meet the most confusing person I'd ever met. It was almost midday and it was hard to walk without bumping shoulders with anyone. As I tried to push myself forwards towards the park I heard the constant ringing of bells from the shops and the idle chatter from the cafés. The sky was clear: there wasn't a single cloud and the Sun shone from above, but the breeze that kept hitting my face felt a bit cold. I was wearing navy jeans, a pair of salmon colored sneakers and a blue t-shirt a bit big for my size. I blamed myself for not grabbing a jacket before Rosalya shoved me out…

The sound of children playing and yelling reached my ears. I looked around: the park I remembered as empty and dark from the other night was now filled with playful children playing soccer, couples in the grass, and a redhead sitting the armrest of a wooden bench, carrying what looked to be a guitar case on his back. He was blankly staring at his phone.

I walked up to him. He still hadn't noticed me, still lost in his phone.

"K…" His last name died in my throat. "Hey."

His head snapped up, confusion clear in his face that soon faded into indifference when he realized who I was. I wasn't sure if that was bad or good. For my sake I went for the latter.

"Hello," I tried again. This time he shoved his phone into his black pants. His dark grey eyes met mine, ice cold.

"What do you want? Don't you have to go work with that stuck-up blond?"

The first one right to the face.

My blood boiled under my skin due to his tone. I had to keep my temper in place. "We don't work together." I hissed._ Way to start_. I let out a sigh, exasperation clear in my face already. If I didn't let pass his comment about Nathaniel, we wouldn't get anywhere. What was the deal between those two, anyways? I still didn't know why they hated each other's guts.

I distractedly brushed some strands of hair behind my ear, noticing that he was staring at me.

And he smirked.

It was as if he was just _playing games_ with me with his attitude.

The nerve of that guy.

"Really? So you don't have interest on working with him?"

… Was he mocking me?

I took a deep breath, calming myself down. "… I doubt I want to follow the family profession." True. I wasn't sure to where my future plans would lead, so I hadn't chosen… yet.

"Good," was all he said. I didn't understand. What had changed from last time to this day? Wasn't he supposed to be in a sour mood?

Just what the _hell_ was wrong with Castiel?

Said redhead then let out a sigh, jumping up the bench and standing up to face me. I could appreciate just how damn tall he was: my eyes didn't reach over his shoulders. I'd have to wear heels to try and match him. He checked his phone once again.

"Well, Lysander just fucking ditched me." He mumbled between gritted teeth. "Damn, we were supposed to meet here half an hour ago and now he isn't even answering."

"Maybe he forgot?" I tried to act casual.

He cocked his head to the side before his smirk grew into a full-blown smile for a second, but as soon as it came, it went away. "He better not. We were supposed to practice today." He motioned towards his guitar.

_Oh. _Then it hit me: a possible way to bring Castiel over… if I were lucky.

"Maybe we could take a walk? We can check later to see if he's here. He's just probably arriving late."

"Can't live without me, tiger?"

"I breathed without you since I was born. I'm sure I can keep going." I placed both hands on my hips, feeling a grin spread through my face. There we were, back to friendly bickering. Insisting didn't look like the best of ideas, so I just waited for him to make up his mind.

"Lysander will pay for this," he grumbled. "You win, tiger. Got any good places in mind?"

"First stop is my house." Castiel gave me a look as I came up with my _explanation_. "It's chilly. I'm just going to pick up a jacket and then we can go elsewhere."

He smirked. "Is this a secret plot to lock me inside your house or something?"

_And the Oscar goes for…_

I started walking away before my face gave off any hints. "Nah." A pause. "But you'll see I don't bring bad luck."

He went silent after that. I wasn't sure, but it looked as if he wanted to say something else. He remained silent the whole way, however, checking his phone now and then. When my house came into view, I took out my own and quickly sent a text message to Lysander's number. I feigned to look for my keys in all my pockets to give them time to "hide" when we were in front of the house. I saw the curtains being pulled from the outside, so when I opened the door, I wasn't surprised to be greeted with darkness.

"Come in," I gestured at Castiel, who was looking amusedly at me.

"Why do I have the feeling that you want me to get in?"

I shrugged. "I don't like leaving guests out in the street." In the end, he complied and I closed the door behind us.

"Holy shit. What are you, a vampire?" I let out a snort at that. "Fuck, I can't see a thing in here…"

"Hang on…" I mumbled, looking for the light switch.

_Click!_

"SURPRISE!" Two shadows jumped in front of us literally _out of nowhere_. Even if I was expecting it, it still startled the living shit out of me. Castiel's eyes were widened and his mouth was half-agape as he tried to register what was going on. His eyes glanced at the birthday-like decorations, then at Rosalya and lastly at Lysander. Rosalya had the biggest grin I'd ever seen on her while Lysander's smile was as gentle as always.

"You…" Castiel tried to speak. "What the…?"

Lysander's smile grew bigger. "Sorry I had to ditch our practice today, my friend, but it was for a good cause."

"Yeah," Rosalya nodded while she helped me pull the curtains open again. "Lys had the idea this morning."

"In fact, I think I had it a week ago… but I forgot to write it down. I just remembered that."

"Are you for real?" Rosalya and I said in unison, snapping our heads towards him. Lost cause. He was a damn lost cause. Castiel blinked a couple of times before turning towards me.

"You knew about this?"

I shrugged and pointed towards the two first intruders in my house. "Blame them."

"She lent us the house." Lysander explained. "We couldn't get a place, so we thought Miss Devay here would want to give us a hand. And we weren't wrong." When he saw that Castiel wasn't saying anything, he continued. "I know last year wasn't exactly the best for you, so I thought maybe we could make a difference this one." He kept smiling. "It's been a while since we did this, right?"

"Last time we celebrated this I was fifteen, yeah." To my surprise, he showed the biggest smile I'd ever seen on him. It left me frozen: I didn't know he could smile like that. "Come here, you piece of shit." He muttered, pulling Lysander into the tightest of hugs. Rosa and I laughed when Lysander tried to pat his back. Castiel soon stepped away and nodded at white haired girl. "Thanks to you too, Rosa."

"He wouldn't be able to pull this on by himself." She ignored Lysander's 'hey', and then pulled me by my shoulder. "Don't forget her! There wouldn't have been any party if it wasn't for her."

Castiel's gaze met mine, smile fading for a moment. He walked up to me…

And ruffled my hair. "Thank you, tiger."

"Hey! It takes me hours to keep it straight!" Despite everything, I couldn't hold back the smile. He was being sincere, I could tell, and that was enough. I tried to reach his, but he jumped away in time, grin always present in his face.

"Too slow, too small!"

"Argh, you-"

"Okay! What do you guys want to do? We've got movies, games… Oh, and Anne has a keyboard upstairs. We could play some music, too!"

I froze. "You went into my room when I wasn't here?!"

"Er… I was looking for the bathroom."

"I swear to God…"

I gave them a small tour through the house, making sure Rosalya stayed away from all doors. At one point, Castiel stopped at a photo we had placed in one of the shelves in the living room. It was the same at my aunt's: her, my mother, me (holding a baby Vivian) and Lara when she was younger.

"I recognize your mother and your sister," he grinned. "You haven't grown much, though."

"… I was a kid."

"Aren't you, still?"

"Castiel, be polite. She might kick us all out if you keep this up."

Time flew by. Rosalya opened most bags of snacks and we dug in, sitting on the sofa and on the floor as well. Rosa insisted that Castiel played his guitar, but she got a "nope" every time she begged. In the end, she gave up with a pout. We took out Mario Kart and Castiel beat us every _goddamn_ single round, so we ended up being fed up with his smug face. We gossiped a bit about the new course, but there was a question that got me by surprise.

"You're going to apply for college here, right Anne?" Lysander asked, munching on a chip.

"Ah?" I scratched my head. "Yeah, sure. Where else would I go?"

_Liar._

I shoved it off when Castiel suggested it was time for lunch, so we went to the kitchen. I told them all to stay away from literally _everything _(I didn't trust Rosalya alone in there, neither Lysander. He could forget he had something cooking, and Castiel was scratched out because of reasons like _might blow the house up_, even if I knew he lived alone and he had to cook for himself. Still: get out of my kitchen.)

"There's cake in here." I heard Rosalya say as I placed the pizzas in the oven.

"Oh. Those are leftovers from my birthday cake. I saved a piece for my aunt…" But it probably wasn't good anymore. I had to check.

I heard a "bam!" noise. Rosalya had hit her head in the fridge. "Wait, was it your birthday? When?!"

"Two weeks ago or so." I whistled. Her eyes were widened just like Castiel's when he'd entered in. "Uh, Rosa? What's wrong?"

"Your birthday was two weeks ago and you DIDN'T TELL ME?!"

_Ooooh crap._ "W-wait, I didn't even celebrate it!"

"WHAT?! That's even worse!" Castiel was having fun with this, I could tell by his face.

"Never tell Rosalya you turned sixteen without celebrating it. She might as well explode."

"I'm seventeen now, just so you know."

"Just like me, then." He muttered, chewing on a chocolate bar. He suddenly stopped. "Wait a second… You turned seventeen two weeks ago?"

"She just said that, Castiel." Lysander was grinning, but I didn't know why.

"Why is that so important?" I tried to ask, but all I got was Lysander's Chesire cat-like grin.

Castiel suddenly snapped, eyes wide open once again. "You're older than me!?"

… Oh, right. My birthday was in July and his was in August. I found that rather funny. "Yeah, looks like it." I laughed. "What's with that face?"

He stepped in front of me, but didn't stop, so I had to walk backwards until my back hit the wall. I felt my body tremble on the spot.

He smirked down at me. Again.

"You don't look like you're older, anyways." Castiel shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes suddenly gleaming as he scanned me from head to toe. I crossed my arms, feeling self-conscious. "You're shorter than me and you have no chest. You look like you're fifteen or so."

_Oh you piece of shit._ "My chest is just fine!"

"The word you're looking for is _nonexistent_."

Rosalya was having a field day with this, I could tell. Even Lysander was looking at Castiel with a small smile of his own. "Castiel, behave. Don't forget we're guests, even if it's your birthday."

Well, at least I could pull the "I'm older than you" thing whenever he bothered me. The thought of it made me laugh.

We waited watching TV until the pizzas were ready and Rosalya pulled a few candles out, saying we should put them on the pizza for Castiel to blow. We all cracked up at his growl of "I'm not blowing anything". Lysander had brought a collection of games Castiel usually left at his house when he visited, most of them being Guitar Hero. When I said I had them as well, Castiel insisted on trying mine instead. The bastard just wanted to see my scores and probably laugh at my face, but it turned out that it was the other way around. I had higher scores than him.

"You're shitting me. How the _fuck_ did you do that?!" He let out when I beat him once again at 'Black blood', by Winged Skulls.

I shrugged. "I had to practice to beat my older sis. Also quick fingers because of my piano classes." I added, with a grin: "Another round?"

He grumbled. "Bring it on. I'll end up beating you sooner or later."

Turned out that nope, he didn't, much to my pleasure. Lysander then suggested we should try out some karaoke. I thought he was shy, but apparently he was comfortable enough around us to sing for a bit. Rosa sang with him and dedicated it to an "invisible" Leigh sitting somewhere in the "crowd". She had a few slips and ended up cracking up in the middle of the song, making Castiel and I cover our faces and laugh as well as Lysander, who couldn't keep it up anymore.

"I almost forgot." Lysander said, taking out something from one of the bags. It was a small and plain square envelop. "Your gift. Well, ours. Leigh and Rosa helped a bit to get it."

It was a set of guitar chords, and by Castiel's face, they didn't look like average chords. "Holy shit, Lys…" He gaped a couple of times. Another face of his I hadn't seen. "I don't know what to say."

"How about thanks?"

He chuckled at that. Then it hit me: I had nothing. Probably I could give him something that I had already, but what? I didn't have anything I could actually give away…

Wait.

Using the bathroom excuse, I ran upstairs into my room and frantically searched through a small grey jewelry box until I found what I had in mind: there were two of them. Two black, metallic keychains with a small skull hanging from each one of them. I'd bought one a while ago while my sister, exactly the same day, had gotten one for me, so I had two saved up. Mentally thanking Lara for her timing, I got the one I'd bought and shoved it into my pocket. I'd give it out later.

It soon grew dark and our throats were hurting from all the singing, so we took a break to just talk about silly stuff. Castiel told me that Demon was doing fine and he was destroying his house just like he used to. Rosa was still horrified at my wardrobe (turned out that she looked in it too while I was out) and I shoved a cushion from the sofa right at her face as a response. I was on the floor with my legs crossed, so when she retaliated I easily dodged it by rolling around.

"Kiddies, behave." Castiel joked, apparently forgetting I had good aiming. Cushion to the face it was.

"Look who's talking, _kid_." I stuck my tongue at him.

"Oh, it's _on_, tiger."

He pounced and I dodged, once again, making him fall right onto his face over the carpet. I started laughing uncontrollably, causing him to growl. Another cushion (my mother was going to kill me), flew around, this time from Lysander trying to hit Rosa who was already throwing everything she could at him. Being distracted as I was by them, I didn't notice that Castiel was already on me, cushion in hand.

"… Oh shit."

"Told you, tiger." He grinned. "This is the jungle, and you got caught by the hunter."

"No!" I covered my face with my arms, laughing. He had me immobilized with his weight over me and started to hit me with the fluffy blue cushion. He couldn't hit me in the face, so he went to the dirty tricks tactics: he tickled my ribs, making my arms fly off my face to cover my stomach instead, and then he attacked. I tried to push him off, but it didn't work.

"Rosa!" I called, laughing like a maniac. "Hel-pff!" Cushion to the face. "Goddammit, Lysander! Help me here! Ff-"

"Sorry Anne, I'm busy-!" I heard him laughing too. I couldn't see them anymore, thanks to both the cushion and Castiel.

I mentally made a note to save this one memory among as many others as I had. Castiel's grey eyes glanced at me from above. He was breathing heavily and I could see his chest rising up and down. He was supporting himself with his arms on the floor, his legs locking mine in place so I couldn't run away. He dropped his head, his hair tickling my nose.

Good God, I'd just grown conscious about the position we were in.

My heart sped up, not knowing where to look. More like not _daring_ to look away.

We just stared at each other.

Castiel suddenly smirked, pinching my nose.

"Gack!"

"I know I'm irresistible, but it's still rude to stare."

"…" I narrowed my eyes at him, unable to come back with a reply. I took the small opportunity of that distraction to grab the cushion myself and shove it right into his face, making him lose his balance and allowing me to slip away from under him.

God, I'd felt my heart about to jump out of my chest.

Rosalya popped into my view: she was plopped down on the sofa, breathing heavily just as I was.

"Phew… that was fun!" She giggled. I cleared my throat, making her look at me. "You okay, Anne? You're as red as Castiel's hair."

_Fuuuuuuck._ "I'm fine."

"She's okay. She just couldn't stand being beaten by me."

I elbowed the jerk in the stomach.

We still had three hours left until nine, the hour they were scheduled to leave. I was growing nervous as the time approached, wondering if my father suddenly decided to come back sooner for any God-knew-what reason and found the house a teenage-mess as it was. If I was lucky, he wouldn't arrive until ten and I'd have enough to clean up the whole thing. Bags of chips and cushions were scattered everywhere, as well as the birthday decorations, the poppers, and empty cans were placed over the café table. The games and the karaoke mics were dropped in front of the TV.

Rosalya clapped her hands, getting our attention.

"It's night! So that means~?"

"Movie time?" I ventured.

"Please, not any girly movies." Castiel whined beside me. I lazily shoved him.

Rosa narrowed her eyes. "You're lucky you're the birthday boy. Or should I say man? Ah, who cares. Pick one. We brought Leigh's horror collection. With his permission, of course."

"Leigh likes horror movies?" I frowned.

"He's got a knack for them. We used to watch them until late… but we never finished any. We usually got bus-"

"Okay, I heard enough." Lysander passed the movies to Castiel, clearly not wanting to hear about his brother's romantic antics. "Take your pick."

Out of all ones, he had to pick "The Ring" saga.

"Psychological horror is sometimes way better than just gore." He shrugged while I was considering making a run for the hills. Nope. I didn't like horror movies in the slightest. Rosa seemed comfortable enough, sitting in the floor with a bowl of popcorn with butter we'd heated before between her crossed legs. Lysander was sitting at the edge of the sofa, legs also crossed and arms as well as he was looking interested through the movie. Maybe he liked ghosts and all that stuff too?

Castiel seemed to like the movie. The only one wanting to run was me, apparently. When the scene of the schoolgirl killed in the closet with her face disfigured came up, I covered my eyes and looked to my legs, taking a deep breath.

I felt someone pinch my left side. I screeched, making everyone turn towards me.

Castiel was cracking up.

"Do that again and I'm cutting off your hand!" I yelled at him. _Mental note: never sit near him again during an horror movie. _

His laughter died down slowly as the others turned their attention to the movie. "You don't like horror movies?"

"I used to," I rested my chin in my hand, "only when I watched them with my older sister. But once she left, I started to find them scarier and couldn't watch them anymore." I sighed, letting myself fall backwards to the back of the sofa.

We were talking in whispers now. "She left?"

"She… moved out, you know. Wanted to get her own life and all. She's in New York right now." Part of it was true and it should be enough. Castiel hummed with a small nod, eyes locked on the TV screen once again. "She's the older blonde in the picture you saw." I added. He looked at me.

"So you find them scary without her?"

I slowly nodded. "Yeah. It isn't the same… I felt as if I was alone and everything could get me, but with her it wasn't that way: I wasn't alone."

His arm wrapped around my right shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I blamed the darkness for making me unable to properly see his face, but I could still see his eyes, the reflection of the TV making them shine.

Those eyes that were staring down at me and made me shiver.

He slowly rubbed my shoulder. "But you're not alone right now." Castiel whispered at me. "Look, we're three in this room."

_Too bad you only see the surface, Castiel,_ I thought, but I didn't answer. He took it as if I'd understood him and leaned back with a sigh, his arm still around my shoulder.

"Ah," I suddenly remembered. I snatched out the keychain from my jeans' pocket. "For you."

He examined it, giving me an amused smile. "Really? I thought girls gave out thing like cats and ponies or something."

"If I give you a pony keychain one day you can assume I lost a bet." He snorted at my reply.

"Thanks. For today… and this." He saved it into his pocket. "You're good at choosing gifts."

"You have a shirt with the Winged Skulls logo and wear red and black sneakers, also your guitar pick had a skull in it. I can pick up hints when I see them, y'know." He chuckled.

"You're right: you don't bring bad luck." I looked up at him, but he continued. "I was pissed off that day. I just… got carried away." He was facing the other way, and he whispered even softer. "I'm sorry."

I patted his shoulder. "It's fine. I got ticked off, too." I remembered I had a slip of the tongue, too.

"So we're even?" I let out a chuckle at his question, letting my head fall on his shoulder.

"Sure thing, Mr. Keimar. We're even."

"Alright, Mrs. Devay." I lightly punched his shoulder and he mouthed an "Ow!" at me, mocking a hurt face.

The movie kept going, but I couldn't watch it at all. At some parts I lowered my head, and it was then when Castiel scooted closer and pulled me against his chest. I used his jacket to avoid looking at the TV. It had a mix scent of cigarettes and mint. At one point, I even closed my eyes, but I couldn't fall asleep. My heart was beating too fast to allow it.

Castiel didn't shove me away. Instead, whenever I buried my head in his jacket, he rubbed my shoulder.

When the second movie ended, Rosalya turned the lights on and stretched her arms. It was 9.15.

"I think we had to leave fifteen minutes ago?" She laughed nervously. I scooted away from Castiel and stretched my own.

"Yep. You had. I have to clean this whole thing up before anyone arrives, so you better run out." I grinned.

"We can help if you want." Lysander offered, but I declined. I'd rather do it alone. Castiel frowned, but said nothing else.

"I just texted Leigh and he's on his way right now. We'll drop Castiel on the way back, too." Lysander yawned, covering his mouth. "Oh, sorry."

I snickered. "It's okay to yawn in front of me, y'know."

Soon, a honking noise from the road was their signal to leave. Rosa squished me in a hug and told me she'd definitely celebrate my birthday next year and ran out behind Lysander, who'd shaken my hand and thanked me for lending my house for this. The last one to leave was Castiel.

"You sure got work to do." He eyed the living room again.

I shrugged it off. "I'll manage. Now shoo."

With a snicker he waved at me as he made his way out of my house to Leigh's car. "See you at school then, tiger!"

"That's if you don't skip the first day, lazy ass!"

He mocked an offended face before stepping into the car, flashing me one of those big smirk of his.

And the next minute, Leigh's black BMV disappeared down the road.

I closed the door, resting my forehead against it. God, I sure felt tired. But I had to clean the whole living room and kitchen in less than forty five minutes.

I rubbed my arms, recalling the warmth I felt earlier during the movie.

The atmosphere sure felt different without them… and Castiel.

I shook my head. _Time to clean._

Luckily for me, when my father arrived, I was already done and there were no hints that a small party had happened in the living room. Tired as hell, I'd already retired into my room and dropped onto my bed, not even bothering to get under the covers.

Two more weeks until classes started again. My last school year in Sweet Amoris High.

I winced when I heard my father's studio door close with a slam. Bad day. Good thing I was out of sight already.

I closed my eyes, wondering how my new school year would be. Probably like the last, just with Castiel Keimar as a friend… and Amber Prime bitching even more behind me. I couldn't wait for her to find out that Castiel had been inside my house.

I let myself fall into slumber, my mind filled with swirling images of white, yellow, red, and a dark shade of grey that made me shiver.

**-End Chapter 6-**

**A/N:** I am done. So done. I just wrote for five hours straight, holy shit.

Summer is over for Anne and the next chapter brings someone new to the scene! Can you guess who will be?

Phew. I should keep my chapters between 4-5k words. I didn't want to make a part four though, so I just wrote it all in here. Now Castiel and Anne are officially friends. That wouldn't have happened if she'd declined to host the surprise birthday party (I think his birthday is the 12th of August, by the way) and they'd have remained neutral during the whole new course. The story would've be a lot different if she'd said no, but fate (namely the author here) doesn't want it to go that way. So suck it my dear Anne, but that's just how it goes.

I just had to show how Lysander cared about Castiel. Best friends forever, okay? Okay.

Thank you all for the new follows and favs, and also reviews! Holy crap, they keep me going. Also you, anonymous visitor, I love you too for keep reading this story.

With that, I'm out. See you all next week with chapter 7!

_-Mond_


	8. Chapter 7: Green-eyed ghost

**A/N:** I was supposed to update this yesterday, but I was out the whole day with my friends. I took my netbook with me, though.

Anyways, I won't bore you here. I see some new people following the story, and to you I say: welcome and I hope you enjoy!

On to the story!

_-Mond_

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own Amour Sucré. The Devay are mine. Shoo.

* * *

**Chapter 7:** Green-eyed ghost

**-From the eyes of a passerby-**

The heat wave of summer was over, and when it was gone, September arrived.

After around two months of waking up at whatever hour they wanted, coming back to the old routine of being up at least seven in the morning was a _torture_. Most Sweet Amoris High School students threw their alarm clocks against the wall or dropped it down to the floor in irritation at their incessant (and infernal) beeping. For Anne Devay it was no different. Letting out a growl similar to a dog's, she turned her loud alarm off and opened her eyes with a titanic effort. There was nothing she wanted more than curl up under the blankets again and keep sleeping until the Sun was up, but she had no choice. It was the first day of class again: the first day of her last year in high school.

With that thought in mind, the ginger lazily shoved the covers off her and sat up on the edge of the bed, wondering why waking up at seven wasn't penalized yet by the law. Yawning at least once per minute, she took a shower and after making sure she was alone in the house, she went downstairs to make herself some breakfast and make her way to class.

* * *

The school hadn't changed a bit despite the Principal's warnings of "preparing something big for the next course" from before summer vacations had started. The building still had a cyan shade (that Anne was sure was turning into dark blue due to its age and layer of dirt) and the metallic gates were open for the students to get in, but they were so many it was actually hard to step inside without being stepped on. The inside of the school was the same as well, just that the lockers were shining clean to the ridiculous point that they looked like mirrors. She took advantage of Amber and her two friends looking at themselves in them to sneak into her new class, which already had some people in it.

"Hey!" Greeted Alexy before pulling her into a hug. Over the blue haired teen's shoulder Anne saw Kim sitting over a desk, animatedly chatting with a blushing Violette. Melody and Iris were both already with her places chosen, both near each other. She didn't fail to notice the moment Melody's eyes narrowed at her. After a few warm greeting from Violette and a squish hug from Kim, the room soon started to fill with all her classmates, including Castiel. She was surprised he hadn't skipped, and in fact none had. All desks were occupied except for one between Alexy and Li, who was sitting in front of Amber.

"Sit down please," commanded the Principal once she stepped into the classroom. Everyone quit their chatting and dropped on their chairs. Anne, sitting behind Rosalya, noticed that Nathaniel wasn't inside yet while Amber was. Where was he? "As you all might recall, before summer started, I told this class I was preparing something for your next course." The chatting started again, this time in whispers that died when the Principal cleared her throat again to get their attention. Peggy raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Hertzel?"

"Is it an orienteering event?"

The Principal was baffled.

"Wha- how do you know?!"

Peggy's smile looked dangerously similar to Amber's. "I've got a few sources."

The Principal grumbled. "Well… yes, that was the plan." Her eyes finally left Peggy's place and scanned the whole class. "It's an event to collect money. This year there's a race planned with other schools of our neighbour cities, and it's Sweet Amoris High's chance to _host_ it, so I signed up to participate with a group of my school. It will take place in the Ebony Forest."

A few grumbles were heard. Anne saw Castiel twirling a pencil between his fingers, barely paying attention. The principal kept talking.

"None from this class is obligated to participate… but it's _highly recommended _to do so."

"I don't like how she said that." Rosalya muttered. The Principal's sweet smile sent shivers down some spines.

"It will take place in two weeks and it'll last an entire day and night. Mr. Faraize will take care of the organization." _Poor Mr. Faraize,_ everyone thought. "Everyone from this class who wants to sign up for the race will have until the end of this week to do so. Just talk to Professor Boris Maschen."

"Wait, did you say an entire night?" Anne turned her head towards Amber, who was occupying the other seat near Castiel: she was standing up, fists over her desk. "Are we going to run for twenty eight hours straight?!"

"Miss Prime, I'm sure you're familiarized with the concept of "_camping_". Also a day has twenty four hours, not twenty eight. Please refrain of embarrassing the school in front of the other participants." The Principal raised an eyebrow. Anne and Kim were trying hard to hold back her laugh while Castiel snickered loudly. "Those who want to participate, I repeat, sign up in the list before this week ends. You'll be given instructions on Monday. Have a good morning and don't cause any trouble." She added the last part with a fierce tone before turning around on her heels and walking out of the class, closing the door behind her. The chatter started all over again, knowing that if they had their first class with Mr. Marshall, they still had a few minutes for themselves. The class soon filled with people sitting over desks and chatting noises, the loudest being Amber.

"Are you going to go?" Anne leaned over to ask Rosalya, but the white haired teen shook her head when she turned around to face her friend.

"Nope, I'm bad with sports. I'd rather spend the day with Leigh." When Rosalya tilted her head, Anne saw some pages of her planner filled with "L"s and hearts.

"Why aren't I surprised?" Anne smirked slightly. Maybe she'd ask Kim or Violette later on… She wasn't sure if she was going yet, anyways. It would be a bit stupid to go if none else was going.

There was a knock on the door and Nathaniel walked in (Melody's eyes lit up), motioning to someone behind him to step inside as well. It was instant: all eyes were glued to the newcomer, and Anne could swear she'd just heard Amber gasp.

A boy, rather tall for the age he looked, stepped in. His hair was light brown and short, but not much: it was the same length as Nathaniel's; just that the newcomer's was way messier, but it suited him well with his military-like clothes. His eyes were a striking shade of green she'd never seen before.

"Holy shit." Anne heard Kim whisper at her left. There was a commotion at the other side of the classroom: apparently Amber had kicked Li off her seat and she was flashing the newcomer a sweet smile.

There was a brief moment where Anne thought the boy's eyes stopped on her and narrowed, but she thought it'd been her imagination. Something (more like someone she knew that loved to do that) poked her softly in her ribs, breaking her trail of thoughts.

"You should stop staring before you start drooling, tiger." Castiel said with a smirk. Anne retaliated by throwing her brand new eraser at his face. Before he could throw it back, a loud high-pitched giggle got their attention: Amber. The newcomer was talking in whispers to Nathaniel, still at the front of the class, but apparently he wasn't paying attention to Amber.

"Ugh. Don't tell me she's going to try and get him into the janitor's closet to bite his pants down the very first day." Kim muttered. Castiel leaned back to stretch his arms.

"That'd be good for me: she might stop chasing me for a while." He didn't seem to care about Amber sitting right by his side. If Amber heard him, she ignored it. Her daydreaming expression was still plastered across her face.

"What a shame. I'd love to see you hiding from Amber in a real chase." Anne playfully said. Both Lysander and Rosalya turned around to face them, the latter smiling devilishly.

"I have photos I can show you, Annie. No worries."

All colour faded from Castiel's face. "… You better be bluffing."

But Anne didn't get to know if Rosalya was bluffing or not: their English teacher, Professor Rodrick Marshall, had just entered in the classroom. She saw the new student make his way towards a free spot, but instead of picking the one in front of Amber, he sat on the desk at Alexy's side, who greeted him with a smile. Anne also noticed how Violette tried to get a better look at him but both Armin and Alexy were between her and the new boy.

"Ah…" Mr. Marshall sighed when reading the class' list. "Another year together. Your last year of High School, kids… if you pass, that is." He gave the entire class a look. "This will be the hardest of your years…"

"We get this speech every single fucking year." Castiel whispered, taking out an ear bud from his pocket. "I'm disconnecting."

Lysander frowned, turning around once again to face his friend. "It wouldn't kill you to pay attention once in a while, you know." Kim, sitting behind Lysander, snickered at that.

"I'd agree with you but this is the old "study or you won't pass" and "each year is harder than the last" kinda crap."

"If the group at the back would be so kind…" Mr. Marshall called out to them, making the whole class turn around to the four. Kim opened a random notebook and pretended to be interested in it. Castiel smirked, although he did stop talking. Anne, sitting between the two, had to pretend she was grabbing her books to hide her snort, and Lysander was already facing the front again. "Thank you. Where was I…? Oh, right. We've got a new face in our class," Mr. Marshall smiled softly, pushing up his more than scratched glasses. "What's your name?"

"Kentin Guiles, sir."

_BAM!_

**-From the eyes of Anne Devay-**

"Sorry!" I quickly let out, scrambling to recover all the books that had fallen off. I avoided all the curious gazes, even Kim's at my left and Castiel's at my right, and completely ignored Amber's idiotic laugh. I was sure I'd gone pale and I didn't want anyone to notice. My heart thumped in my ears for a brief moment and I had to take a deep breath to calm down. My blood felt frozen in my veins.

But that boy couldn't be Kentin: the Kentin I remembered was way shorter, wore glasses and would never wear camo-like clothes. Also he'd have trembled when stepping in front of a full class. He wasn't very social and he was very quiet, yet we'd become the best of friends in the past.

No… that couldn't be him. His name was only a coincidence. There were more "Guiles" and "Kentins" all around this country, and this was just a coincidence.

With that thought in mind, I tried to pay attention in class again, but I felt my eyes moving towards the new guy from time to time, trying to see any similarity with the Kentin I had in my memory. None could change so much in six months, right?

Yeah... Kentin was a ghost of the past. That was all he was. I left all my friends when I moved behind, I could only look forward. It'd be the same here. Forward was the only solution.

_Riiiiiiiing!_

_But the way forward is full of stones; and maybe it turns ever so slightly that you don't notice you're going backwards…_

I unceremoniously threw all the books I could into my backpack, ignoring the curious stares I got from Kim. Lysander had a brow raised.

"Where's the fire?" I smiled at that and relaxed a bit. I was probably taking things too…

_Knock knock._

… far.

It was automatic: Kentin, in my old class, used to knock on my desk to get my attention during a lecture. This Kentin had just done the same. My head snapped up and met green. All my conjectures about being this being a coincidence had just been thrown out of the window.

"So you're here?" My old "best friend" asked me. In a panic, I ignored him. I still remembered our last discussion, but I'd been so sure I wouldn't see him _ever_ again. "Annie, I'm talking to you."

"Don't call me that." I snapped, and then cursed myself from talking. Some people were staring at us. I took the opportunity to flee the room as fast as I could, ignoring his calls. Spotting the door to the girl's bathroom, I sprinted and almost knocked the door down while getting in. I heard a "thump!" noise and a yelp: I'd just hit someone with the door.

"Oh fuck!" I cursed. It was Melody. Great. "You okay? Sorry, I didn't see you."

"Yeah… I can see that." She grimaced, but said nothing more and just walked out of the bathroom without saying anything else. She probably thought I did it on purpose. Great, again.

_Knock knock._

"Anne, I know you're there."

I said nothing.

"Why are you _always_ hiding? Don't you think I deserve an answer?!"

The grip I had over my self-control slipped a bit. "No, you don't! Go away!"

"Really? After the whole: "_we're best friends no matter what happens, I'll always be there for when you need me_"? Oh wait, you broke that one."

I pushed the door open with all the strength I had, making it swing wildly outwards. It was a good thing he hadn't been right outside the door. "I had my reasons!"

Our yelling had attracted a few curious looks. Luckily people were still changing classes.

"Your reasons?" He smiled bitterly. "Really? And what about trusting each other?"

My blood was boiling and I was sure his was as well. When I tried to answer to that, I felt my tongue tied.

"Why are you here?" I asked instead. My voice was softer, or at least I tried to make an effort to make it sound that way. Kentin's green eyes widened slightly.

"I went to a military school, and we moved here as soon as I finished." He crossed his arms across his chest and clicked his tongue. I felt incredibly small under his stare. "But if I'd known you were here, I'd avoided this place."

With a disgusted look, he turned over his feet and walked away.

I felt as if someone had thrown a bucked filled with icy water all over me, or as if he'd slapped me across the face. Maybe I deserved it, maybe I didn't at all; I wasn't sure.

… Of course I did. I couldn't bring myself to trust people, and I created mirages with them I had to break sooner or later, for my final goal was to start over somewhere else away from my father. I'd known it'd affect people, you can't toy with that: you can't toy with people's trust. But I was sure I wouldn't see either of them never again.

Karma was a total bitch and ghosts of the past do follow you wherever you go, apparently.

Kentin had been my closest friend back in my old city. It was him and our little girl-group. He was small and didn't know how to defend himself, but he still looked out to give me a hand whenever I needed it. Not only me: he was out to help people, even if he couldn't because of his… well, child-like complexion, he still tried. He was always behind me to help me, so in the end, we became the closest of friends. I knew I'd leave once I turned over age and graduated, but I didn't tell him. I didn't tell anyone except Lara and Vivian. My "friends" were supposed to be there as part of my back story, something I wouldn't see ever again. I always told myself my life would begin once I moved away, so it wasn't worth to keep lying to myself thinking I'd be able to fix the family or that my father would wake up one day miraculously in a permanent good mood, and I'd be able to stay there until college or university, and make plans for the future with my friends. But I still held good memories I had with them close, because they were one of the little things that allowed me to keep going.

I'd use them to be happy and then I'd be gone without a goodbye.

So when my mother told me we were moving, I accepted it without a second thought. I didn't tell them, but Kentin found out. I didn't know how, but he did, and he'd thought it was a misunderstanding. Maybe I'd gone overboard when I told him that "I didn't care about promises; that I was planning to leave anyways once I graduated"…

Reality hit me like a punch. He was mad, angry and hurt. It'd been my fault, because I didn't care in the past… or I wasn't supposed to. A mask of stone is heavy to keep, after all.

This year was going to be hell…

I felt a hand over my shoulder; I could already tell who it was by the black pants and boots, also the Victorian long coat.

"… hi, Lysander."

"You seem pretty conflicted." I noticed most voices were gone and all I could hear was silence. Were people in class already? Had he heard? Who'd heard?

Would Kentin tell I was a liar?

Why was I scared of that?

"No shit." I tried to laugh. It sounded more like I was choking. I wondered if in the future Lysander would look at me with the same face Kentin had done two minutes ago. Maybe he'd give me the silent treatment.

"Do you know that gentleman?"

_Shit. _If he'd heard, I couldn't lie_._ "… yeah, kind of."

"Ghosts of the past, maybe?"

My head snapped upwards: it was surprising how close he always got to the truth. I just hoped he'd never hit the bullseye. "I… it's…" I let out a sigh. "It's complicated."

_More like cowardly from my part not to tell him the truth_. Lysander frowned, but said nothing else.

"You're pretty pale. You should go out to take some fresh air. I'll tell Mr. Faraize you're at the infirmary."

Out? Was Lysander sane? "I can't do that! I can't skip on the first day-" But he shoved a pair of keys into my hand. The thought of seeing Kentin again was growing less appealing with each second that passed.

"They're for the roof." He seemed lost in thought for a moment before squeezing my shoulder. "Go there for a little while, and then come back at recess if you're better. It's no use to try to pay attention when our mind's so distant."

… Seriously, what was he?

But Lysander was already walking away, so I didn't have much choice. It'd be pretty idiotic to lock myself in the bathroom, and if I stayed out in the halls doing nothing, I'd have problems for sure. The infirmary… well, I didn't like the smell of bleach. Maybe I could use some air before going back to class.

I made my way towards the roof door (I knew it was somewhere near the stairs to the second floor), but something stepped in my way.

I was growing tired of that.

"What do you want?" I asked Amber, not even bothering to hide my bad mood (but I did bother on hiding the keys in my back pocket). The last thing I needed was _her_.

"What's your relationship with that Guiles guy?"

I made my best to keep a straight face. Was all this about Kentin? Too bad. I had nothing to tell her. "Acquaintances." I tried to pass by, but both Charlotte and Li blocked my way.

"You think I'm stupid? Li heard you when she was in the bathroom." _Fuck. She was there?_ "You're more than acquaintances! I'm growing tired of you being friends with every single guy in this school!"

"For fuck's sake, you're sounding like a jealous brat. What, can't handle I've got a few friends?" I raised a brow, noticing her anger growing. I couldn't care less, to be honest. The urges to punch something were growing. "My friends are my friends despite whatever they've got between their legs." _Nice one if you call them friends, liar_. I shook my head to shut the voice up. "If you're so childish to think otherwise, that's your problem."

Oh, that stung. She was beyond furious. "You bitch! How dare you call me childish when you look like a fifteen year old?!"

My self-control was slipping. "Look who's talking, old hag." I tried to walk past them, but Amber grabbed my arm. "Let go." I hissed

"Oh, what's the little girly girl going to do? We're three against one." Her insulting tone had changed into a confident one. She looked ready to slap me across the face, and apparently had ignored my whole old hag comment.

But I didn't admit threats.

"Amber Prime, I'm _fucking_ warning you. Let. Me. Go."

"Not until you tell me your business with that Guiles guy. Really, this is ridiculous. Even Lysander talks to you, and he's quiet most of the time!"

"He talks to Kim and Violette as well. Nice try looking for something to pin on me." I winced when I felt a small pounding in my head: a headache was coming up. "What happened between Kentin and me it's none of your fucking business." I spat, gritting my teeth. "For the last time: _let me go_."

"Or what? We're three against one, and you're alone."

That did it. I yanked my arm away from her grasp, making her yelp in surprise, and balled my fists; but someone behind me grabbed both of my hands again. I thought it was one of her stupid friends, but the three of them were in front of me, which surprised me enough to make me stop putting up any resistance.

"She's not," said a voice behind me. I knew that voice…

"Castiel!" Amber gasped. I didn't even turn around. "What a surprise! D-did you go to the bathroom? Maybe we can all go back to class together-"

"How about you leave Anne alone for a little while, hmm? Your moron of a brother is looking for you. You'll get in trouble if you don't go back to class."

Amber's expression was as if Castiel had just slapped her across the face. With her fists tightened, the blonde stormed down the hallway, making a terrible screeching noise with her heels with Li and Charlotte following her. Once she was out of sight, I let my arms fall down like a dead weight and Castiel finally let go. I wasn't in the mood to face anyone, but I had to.

I turned around, arms crossed and pride mildly hurt. "I didn't need a knight in shining armor." At that, he gave me a small smirk.

"You think I was rescuing you?" Castiel raised a brow. I somehow felt really conscious of myself after that. "I think I just rescued _her_; you looked ready to chop her to pieces."

My head was pounding. I couldn't hide the wince at the throbbing pain. First day and everything was already going down the shitter. "Maybe because I was."

I frowned at my own words. Sure, who didn't want to slap Amber from time to time? But what I'd felt had gone further than that. I felt that if I hadn't been stopped, things could've gotten a bit out of hand.

_What's happened to me?_

All anger slowly started to fade away, replaced with a cold sensation running through my veins. Maybe it'd be better if I changed the subject to something else, so I asked the first thing that came to mind. "What are you doing out of class?"

"Skipping." I looked at him with a brow raised and not knowing if I should've laughed or not. "Lysander told me you weren't in the best of conditions, so I just went to check it out. They won't miss me in class anyways."

I snickered at his reply, ignoring the small feeling of gratitude that went through me. "What am I, a hospital patient?" Castiel shot me a hard look, so I quickly brushed off any other jokes. "… I just needed some air, that's all."

"Yeah, and a tranquilizer, too." This time it was me the one who shot him a glare. "What did she say to make you so angry?"

I let out a scoff. _Really?_ Instead of giving a straight out answer I started to walk towards the roof door, hearing his steps behind me. "Sticking her nose into someone's business." The key Lysander gave me didn't want to cooperate; it didn't matter how I twisted it or in which direction I was turning it: the door wouldn't budge. With a defeated whine, I let my head fall against the metallic door.

"… Ouch."

Castiel sighed behind me. "Really, how hard can it be to open a fucking door? Step aside." I did as told. My jaw fell when Castiel, at first try, opened the damn thing. "You have to pull while twisting the key or else it won't work."

Of course the damned door had a trick.

"How do you know that?"

"You think you're the only one who's been at the roof?" With a smirk, he stepped inside. It was nothing else than a dark corridor with a dirty staircase leading to the rooftop. "Who do you think gave Lysander the keys? I spent half of my last year up there. Come on, and don't trip."

We walked upstairs in silence. I'd never been up in the roof, but the further I went from the lower floor, the better. There was another door at the top, which luckily wasn't locked. The sunlight made me blink several times, feeling my eyes getting teary, but I still managed to slip my backpack off and drop it on the ground beside me. The smell of cigarettes filled the air.

I leaned backwards, closing my eyes. I'd thought being with someone would bother me, but Castiel was being silent, just staring down at Sweet Amoris' road and at the tall buildings placed in front of the High School and blowing off some smoke. The view was pretty, I'd give him that. Maybe he also wanted to come have a smoke and took the opportunity when Lysander told him I was out.

"When I get angry, I go up here."

I opened my eyes: the sun was behind Castiel, making him look like a big shadow. "Really?"

"Yeah. The delegate ticks me off so much sometimes. To avoid giving him a new face I have to get up here."

Those two would end badly one day. "That didn't stop you before." I mumbled, remembering the day I caught them both fighting in the middle of the hallway. Not the best of sights.

"Sometimes he pushes his luck." He blew more smoke. I watched it swirl upwards and disappear into the clear morning sky.

Of course he'd blame Nathaniel, but I remained silent. My head kept pounding; the Sun wasn't helping, so I closed my eyes again, hugged my knees and curled up, finding comfort in the darkness. I heard hesitant steps coming nearer and nearer, and lastly a 'flop' beside me. The cigarette smell was stronger. I'd thought he'd leave me be, but again he'd managed to confuse me.

"Okay, I give up." His voice sounded so near it almost made me jump. "Spill. What happened?"

I grumbled something that sounded muffled.

"Can't hear you."

"You saw Amber." I mumbled, raising my head to look at him: Castiel was glancing at me. "That's all."

He blew off some smoke. "You sure that's all?"

"Yes, Castiel. That is all."

"I don't believe you."

"Too bad."

He smirked at me and knocked softly on my head with his knuckles. "What's the little tiger hiding?"

Even if Castiel was the master of confusion, I knew it was his way to make me feel better. Joking and teasing were his best hands, and thankfully I knew that. I shoved his hand off. "Just the secret to Alchemy."

"No," he mimicked a gasp. "Seriously. Why was Amber behind your back this time?"

"Because I exist, for starters." That made him laugh. I didn't feel angry anymore; I was just tired. We remained silent for a little while.

"I think I've told you before," I turned towards Castiel: he wasn't looking at me this time. His grey eyes were locked somewhere far away, "I don't care if you don't want to talk. If changing topics is enough to make you feel better, then I'll do it. But the truth always catches up to you." Dark grey found brown, and I was sure we were thinking about that night at the park. I thought he'd forgotten. "Don't run too far away from it; it'll hurt more when it catches up to you. We all need a shoulder to cry on from time to time."

"… You heard that from Lysander, didn't you?"

Castiel grimaced. "Part of, but I'm also speaking from personal experience." When I tilted my head to the side, he continued. "I… had a hard time last year, and I thought I could endure it alone, but I needed Lysander by my side. He had to go through a lot: I was calm one second and the next I was crashing things around my house. It was madness. I didn't want anyone else to know, so Lysander didn't tell Rosa about this… little problem, neither Leigh. They just know I was having breakdowns." He let out a sigh, searching for another cigarette. "Lysander's my best friend for a reason. He knows more about me than myself, I'd bet."

"But I can't have anyone like that."

… _Fuck my stupid mouth._

Castiel shot me a questioning look, but I remained silent. No, I wasn't going to talk. What was I supposed to say?

"Try?"

"I can't."

"And you call me stubborn."

**-From the eyes of Castiel Keimar-**

Anne narrowed her eyes at me while I held back a chuckle at her face. Calling her stubborn was probably the last thing she was expecting.

But I was _worried_, a feeling I only reserved for Lysander or for my own safety (my parents too). She'd really looked like she could punch the crap out of Amber. Good thing I stopped her in time. Blondie doesn't know she can get in big trouble sometimes… I made a mental note of keeping an eye on the "tiger". She just wasn't herself lately. I still remembered how I couldn't step back from her at the park, wanting to go away but at the same time wanting to stay. Stupid and confusing.

I felt her slightly punch my shoulder, probably because of the "stubborn" comment. I retaliated by flicking her forehead, and while she rubbed it, I lit up another cigarette. I was smoking a lot lately.

_Riiiiiiiiing!_

Grumbling at the bell's timing, I picked up my things, glancing at Anne to see if she was going down again or if she'd decided to stay. Just as I predicted in the back of my mind, she didn't want to skip. I'd have to work a little bit on that. I flicked the last cigarette down to the road, earning a disapproving look from her. I just shrugged and we went downstairs, checking carefully to not get caught while sneaking out. Luckily, we didn't, and I locked the door, saving the keys back in my pocket.

"What do we have next?" I asked.

"Math." Anne answered, but something felt off. She was glancing to literally every side, as if looking for something.

"What the hell are you doing? They won't catch us if that's what you're thinking."

She muttered something I couldn't hear and bolted inside the classroom right next to Kim, just like this morning in English. Lysander, sitting in the middle row, gestured at me to come closer.

"S'up," I waved, plopping down on the chair next to him. "She was well, just needed some air."

"She didn't tell you, did she?"

"Nope, not a word."

He smiled at my words; not a reaction I was expecting. "Luckily, I'm good enough and managed to get a bit before she closed up on herself with you."

"… Excuse me?"

Lysander motioned with his head towards the entrance, where the new guy was standing. He was looking at Anne with a cold expression and narrowed eyes, a frown always present. He clicked his tongue and sat on the opposite part of the classroom.

"There's something wrong about him…"

"He looks like he's PMSing alright," I chuckled, but Lysander ignored the joke. "But why is he looking at her like that?"

"I heard them yelling in the hallway before. It was short, but I've never seen Anne like that. Guiles, too, looked pretty mad."

Wait.

"So it was him what made her like that?" I sat up straight, not getting my eyes off the guy. He was still looking at her direction, but Anne didn't turn around even once. Kim did and waved at me. I flipped her off jokingly and she did the same with a big grin. "I thought it'd been Amber."

"Maybe both. We know Miss Prime has a… talent, to kick off a person's inner fire." Lysander said, resting his chin on his hand. "I don't know what relationship they had, but Anne did admit she knew him."

Was it me or did my stomach just feel like it was on fire?

During the whole class, I kept an eye on both that Kentin Guiles and Anne, but they never made eye contact. I even wondered if she wasn't looking over her shoulder on purpose. Lysander was zoning out again and usually at this time I'd be either falling asleep or dozing off just like him with my earbuds on, but I had my mind occupied, wondering why the _hell_ they'd know each other in the first place. Was he an ex or something?

And the burning sensation started again in my stomach.

It felt familiar. _Too_ familiar.

I'd felt something like this when other men with stupid grins in their faces approached Deborah after our rehearsals.

_Fuck._

Wait, no. Anne was a friend. Just a friend. Of course I'd be worried, just like Lysander was…

Or not?

Shit, man. I wanted to punch myself.

Recess finally started, and just as I'd imagined, Anne bolted out of the classroom with a protesting Kim behind her. The new guy had jumped off his seat, but she was gone way before he'd managed to even pick up the book.

"Lysander." I called. My friend stopped looking out of the window.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"I'm gonna have a word with that Kentin Guiles."

**-End Chapter 7-**

**A/N:** God, I sure love Kentin. Don't be mad, he has his reasons to be angry, mostly because Anne was a bit stupid when taking the decisions she's taken. And no, she's never been in a relationship before (considering how she goes with people, if she'd had a boyfriend her whole trail of thought wouldn't make much sense), so I made them "best friends"… or that's what Kentin thought they were... And they were, actually, just that Anne suddenly cut everything and left, pretending that she didn't care because if she'd let her feelings take the lead it'd be harder for her. Remember how much she wants to leave, and for that, she doesn't want to have any ties. It's not the best way of thinking, but she'll change with time. First step is fixing things with Kentin.

Also you saw I made some changes to the orienteering event… Camping. I took the idea from the My Candy Love manga, where Candy (named Lynn) goes camping with her entire class, and she has to share a tent with one of the boys –whistles-.

And Castiel, dear, that's jealousy. He's starting to realize he likes her -shot-

Also, to those who've seen Ken's parents… I have something to say about his last name: pun _absolutely intended_. That is all. No spoilers.

With that, I thank you all for keeping up with DiF. This story reached more than 1000 views and that makes me so happy ;_; jhgdsf. All of you, thanks tons for your support, favs, follows and reviews! I hope I can keep up this story to your liking.

PS: If you want, look for Devay in MCL. It's my American account, you'll find me there!

_-Mond_


End file.
